Thailand’s Central Group has outlined plans to invest a further $1.5bn in Vietnam over the coming decade, with the funding directed towards retail, shopping centres and hospitality, reported Vietnam Investment Review, which operates under the country’s ministry of finance.
The group first entered the Vietnamese market in 2012 through Central Retail and has since built up a portfolio of retail brands, including GO!, Tops Market, Lan Chi Mart and Supersports.
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It now runs more than 300 stores and shopping centres spread across 26 cities and provinces.
Central Group has already committed around $1.5bn to Vietnam. The latest pledge would take its cumulative investment in the country to roughly $3bn.
Central Group chairwoman Wallaya Chirathivat revealed the expansion plan during Vietnam Week in Thailand 2026.
She pointed to three drivers behind the group’s continued growth in the market: Vietnam’s economic expansion, its sizeable and increasingly consumption-driven population, and scope to extend modern retail formats beyond the country’s largest cities.
Central Retail Vietnam chief executive Olivier Langlet said the fresh capital would go mainly towards retail and shopping centres, alongside hospitality projects.
The company has already scouted around 200 potential sites in urban areas for further evaluation.
On the hospitality side, the group runs the 984-room Centara Mirage Resort Mui Ne in Lam Dong, which opened in 2020, and is building two more hotels in Van Don, Quang Ninh, set to add roughly 1,000 rooms.
According to Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade, the domestic retail market was valued at around $269bn in 2025.
Central Retail’s Vietnam operations brought in more than Bt24bn ($720.5m) in revenue during the first half of this year, representing about 20% of the group’s total revenue and keeping Vietnam as its second-largest market after Thailand.
By the end of August 2026, Thai investors held 824 projects in Vietnam with combined registered capital exceeding $15.47bn, according to Vietnam’s Foreign Investment Agency.
The two countries are also working towards a bilateral trade target of $25bn, according to Wallaya.
