MM Mega Market maintains position as two-way trade bridge between Vietnam and Thailand

Opening ceremony for the Songkran Festival, one of the activities to celebrate 45 years of Vietnam-Thailand diplomatic relations held recently by MM Mega Market Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City

Vietnam and Thailand are strategic partners with long-term and good economic co-operation over the past 45 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1976. In the recent decade, foreign direct investment in Vietnam surged 13 per cent per year on average. Thailand is the ninth-largest investor of the 132 countries and territories having investment in Vietnam, with 588 projects and a total registered capital of $12.5 billion.

Vietnam is the second-largest trade partner of Thailand, whereas Thailand is the largest trade partner of Vietnam in ASEAN. The total export-import turnover of Vietnam and Thailand in the 2015-2020 period increased some 7.3 per cent per year on average. In 2020, despite the impact of COVID-19, bilateral trade between the two countries amounted to nearly $16 billion, accounting for 30 per cent of the total trade value between Vietnam and ASEAN member nations.

Economically, Vietnam and Thailand are committed to boosting the value of their agricultural products as well as participating in the value chains in the region. For years, some Thai retailers investing in the Vietnamese market have carried out many programmes to introduce Vietnamese farm produce to Thai consumers. One of them is the wholesaler/retailer MM Mega Market, one of the strategic investments of TCC Group in Vietnam.

Recently, speaking at the opening ceremony for the Songkran Festival, one of the activities to celebrate the 45th anniversary of Thai-Vietnamese diplomatic relations held by MM Mega Market Vietnam on April 8 in Ho Chi Minh City, Bruno Jousselin, managing director of MM Mega Market Vietnam (MM), said, “As one of the modern, leading distributors of the country, we always look forward to becoming a two-way trade bridge between Vietnam and Thailand, linking supply chains and cultural exchange between the two countries.”

Over the past years, the leading Thai wholesaler/retailer in Vietnam has hosted diverse activities to promote Vietnamese goods in the Thai market and to bring Thai enterprises to Vietnam to study Vietnamese farm produce.

In 2019, MM teamed up with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade in organising the Vietnamese Goods Week in Thailand at Big C Supercentre in Bangkok, Thailand, creating a link for Vietnamese businesses to promote their products, expand market, and study consumer demand and purchasing power of distributors in Thailand.

Since 2018, MM has begun to export Vietnam’s farm produce to Thailand, which are distributed by Thailand’s Big C chain of some 1,000 big and small supermarkets with strongly increasing quantity every year.

Connecting supply chains and cultural exchange of two countries

In addition to the programmes to become Vietnam-Thailand two-way trade bridge, MM has also organised important events over the years to connect supply chains and cultural exchange of the two countries. Recently, the company has organised the Songkran Festival and the Shopping Week at MM Mega Market An Phu in District 2, Ho Chi Minh City.

During the two weeks of the Songkran Festival, Vietnamese consumers can experience 1,000 items imported from Thailand

With COVID-19 hindering tourism activities, the Songkran Festival is a chance for Vietnamese consumers loving Thai culture to experience Thai dishes right in Vietnam. Especially, during the two weeks of the Songkran Festival, Vietnamese consumers can buy some 1,000 items imported from Thailand.

This is the second year that MM has organised a cultural exchange and a Thai Goods Week in Vietnam, following the Colours of Thailand in Vietnam held in 2020, attracting the support of quite a few Vietnamese consumers.

With a network of 21 supermarkets nationwide, MM is distributing more than 60,000 items for some one million corporate customers and millions of individual customers. Given its sustainable development strategy and long-term commitment to Vietnam, MM continues to maintain its position as a pioneer in building and developing a safe agricultural product supply chain in order to improve the value for Vietnamese farm produce and supply the safest food for the people. In addition, the leading wholesaler/retailer will continue its strategy to diversify items, hoping to become a unique shopping venue for the Thai community in Vietnam and the Vietnamese who love Thai goods.

Also at the opening ceremony for the Songkran Festival, Apirat Sugondhabhirom, Thai consul general in Ho Chi Minh City, affirmed their support for MM Mega Market, the Thai private sector, and businesses in Vietnam to accelerate the economy, two-way trade, and investment between Thailand and Vietnam, helping the two countries to overcome challenges due to the pandemic and attain import-export revenue amounting to $20 billion per year as set by the leaders of the two countries.