Pham Trung Kien (first left) and Tran Lam Hong (first right), two deputy general directors of Saigon Co.op, at the award ceremony in Singapore on October 28. — VNS Photo Gia Ninh.

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — On the evening of October 28 at the Sofitel Singapore Sentosa, the Retail Asia Publishing honoured the 500 best-performing retailers in the Asia-Pacific region this year, with the participation of numerous international guests and leaders of major retailers throughout Asia.

With its wide distribution network, diverse retail system, and constantly improving service quality, the Saigon Union of Trading Co-operatives (Saigon Co.op) continues to represent Viet Nam's retailers, winning dual awards – the gold award for being one of Việt Nam's top retailers and among the top 500 Asia-Pacific retailers in 2016.

Saigon Co.op has been winning awards for 13 straight years since the rankings were launched.

Currently, Saigon Co.op is considered the biggest retailer in Viet Nam, having nearly 400 points of sales and a variety of retail models covering all segments. It has 85 Co.opmart supermarkets nationwide, two Co.opXtra hypermarkets, a SC Vivo City mall - a joint venture with Singapore, more than 200 Co.op stores, two Sense City commercial centres and the TV shopping channel HTV Co.op.

In recent years, Viet Nam's retail market has witnessed a strong penetration of foreign retail brands with hundreds of years of experience on the international market and strong financial strength, creating great pressure for fledgling domestic retail brands.

Therefore, Saigon Co.op, which has operated under the co-operative model, has enjoyed the honour of winning the gold award for leading retailer in Viet Nam. The company, which has also been included in the list of the top 500 Asia-Pacific retailers for many years, has become a rare phenomenon of a co-operative economic model that is operating effectively, especially in the context of fierce competition amid international integration. — VNS