Central Group unveils $3bn Vietnam investment drive

BANGKOK, 21 SEPTEMBER 2026 —

Bangkok, 17 Sept 2026 – Central Group, Thailand’s largest retail conglomerate, announced a new $3.5 bn (≈116 bn baht) investment plan for Vietnam, building on the $1.5 bn already spent since 2012.

The commitment, disclosed at a press briefing during the tenth Vietnamese Week in Thailand, covers Central Retail Corporation (CRC), Central Pattana (CPN) and Centara Hotels & Resorts.

The $3.5 bn is split into two distinct pots. CRC will invest $1.5 bn of its own capital over the next three to five years to expand its store network. The remaining $2 bn will be allocated to a joint‑venture programme that will fund property and hospitality projects through Central Group and local partners, each contributing half of the capital.

CRC’s $1.5 bn will support roughly 50 new stores on top of the 300‑plus outlets it already operates across 26 of Vietnam’s 34 provinces. The retailer currently handles about 500,000 customer visits a day and employs 13,000 staff, 99.5 % of whom are Vietnamese nationals. The company plans to add 35 to 37 new stores by 2028, including GO! hypermarkets and mini‑GO! supermarkets, targeting secondary cities and rural communities.

The joint‑venture pot will primarily fund CPN’s property push over a 10‑to‑15‑year horizon, reflecting the longer gestation of large‑format shopping centres and mixed‑use developments. Executives said they were still assessing whether sites would be developed directly or through partnerships, citing Vietnamese developer Sun Group as a potential collaborator. “The focus will be mainly retail and mixed‑use developments, with offices and hotels possible in the future,” said Central Group president Wallaya Chirathivat.

Centara Hotels & Resorts will also benefit from the joint‑venture pot. The company already operates 52 hotels across nine countries and is expanding its Vietnamese footprint beyond the 984‑room Centara Mirage Resort Mui Ne, opened in 2021. Two additional properties in Van Don, Quang Ninh province, are slated to open before year‑end, adding 977 rooms. Together, the two pots double Central Group’s cumulative Vietnam investment in just over a decade.

Central Group’s confidence rests on macroeconomic fundamentals that have held up better than many regional peers. “Vietnam continues to stand out as one of ASEAN’s fastest‑growing economies, with GDP growth projected to reach as high as 7.2 % this year, reflecting the country’s strong market potential and expanding consumer purchasing power,” said Wallaya. “These factors continue to strengthen Central Group’s confidence in Vietnam’s potential and drive our ongoing investment in the country.”

Retail sales and consumer services expanded at a faster clip in the first half of the year, according to Vietnamese government data, reinforcing Central’s view that domestic consumption remains one of the economy’s more reliable growth engines. CRC has built a leading position in the hypermarket segment, where it holds close to 40 % market share, the largest hypermarket operator by that measure.

In convenience stores and minimarts, homegrown chains such as WinMart retain the advantage.

Over the past eight years, CRC has generated cumulative sales of more than 330 bn baht, executives said, money that has recirculated through the economy via wages, tax payments, supplier contracts and community programmes. CEO Olivier Langlet highlighted two persistent friction points: regulatory uncertainty and land costs. “Vietnam has done an amazing job simplifying paperwork, but some laws remain unclear in interpretation, and we need to understand them better to grow faster,” he said.

“Land is very expensive, so we must invest carefully to ensure an appropriate return on investment for our shareholders.”

The company’s expansion strategy has evolved from a focus on tier‑one cities to a multi‑tier approach. “When we entered Vietnam around 15 years ago, the focus was naturally on Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City,” Langlet said.

“Over time, we have seen that consumers in tier‑three and tier‑four cities are creating more value and opportunities.” CRC’s development team has scouted around 200 potential sites across all four city tiers, with only the top 50 to 70 being pursued immediately. The new openings will draw on all four tiers, with the pace shaped by local authorities’ willingness to fast‑track modern retail and Central’s own targets.

CRC frames its Vietnam expansion around a “Better for Vietnam” vision, built on three pillars aligned with the country’s 2050 development goals: sourcing, food safety and workforce development. The company works with more than 2,000 domestic suppliers to improve product quality and packaging, claiming that over 90 % of goods on its Vietnamese shelves are locally sourced.

It pursues food safety through a “farm‑to‑store” partnership with growers and a push toward HACCP certification across its network. Workforce development is delivered through university partnerships offering retail training, including inclusion programmes for young people from minority communities.

The investment plans were unveiled against the backdrop of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Thailand and Vietnam, marked this year by a state visit to Vietnam by His Majesty King Maha Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida, and by the elevation of bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Central executives linked the group’s expansion to that relationship, pointing to Thursday’s signing of a memorandum of understanding between Central Retail, NAPAS and VietinBank to extend cross‑border QR payments under the VietQR Global scheme. Thailand and Vietnam have set a bilateral trade target of $25 bn, while Deputy Prime Minister Anutin...

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