Products developed in Thailand are seen throughout Vietnam’s malls and supermarkets. Thailand’s tycoons are trying to take advantage of the “Buy Thai” craze that is sweeping across Vietnam. The market has upward of 90 million people, and deals could break merger and acquisition records.
Vietnam’s middle-class finds that Thai goods are better and less expensive than products from Korea and Japan. China’s goods are also seen as cheap items that are much higher quality when made in Thailand.
One customer at a popular shopping destination states, “I prefer Thai goods. I don’t have to worry if they’re contaminated.” The view of many residents in Vietnam is that goods from China are potentially hazardous to their health and also poor quality.
Thai Charoen Corp (TCC) recently finalized a 655 million euro deal to purchase Metro’s Vietnam chain of stores. Berli Jucker, a subsidiary of TCC, is also bidding $1 billion to acquire Vietnam’s Big C supermarkets from Casino Group.
Vietnam’s economy is also favorable in comparison to Thailand. Thailand’s economy is flat with GDP growth falling to 2.5%, according to recent projections. Vietnam, in contrast, has economic growth of over 5% over the last 5 years, with retail sales expected to rise from $110 billion last year to $179 billion by 2020.
Mergers and acquisitions reached record levels last year of $4 billion, with analysts expecting…