UMA President August Wingardh decided to choose "Camilla" - name of the Swedish ambassador to Viet Nam for a new sofa product on the opening ceremony of eighth store.

HCM CITY (Biz Hub) — The Swedish ambassador to Viet Nam took part in the opening ceremony of the eighth UMA store, a leading furniture and home decor brand in Viet Nam on Wednesday.

Ambassador Camilla Mellander said "UMA represented a successful cooperation model between Swedish and Vietnamese businesses that is expected to further develop in the future."

The products is a combination of Swedish style and Vietnamese culture, she said. "Customers can access high quality products at reasonable costs."

The new store, located inside the Big C supermarket in HCM City's Phu Nhuan District, is a 50-50 joint venture between Vietnamese and Swedish partners.

Next week, UMA will open another store in Binh Duong Province, raising the total number of UMA stores in Viet Nam to nine.

UMA President August Wingardh said the company began as a small business and grew into a furniture retailer in Viet Nam.

It targets reaching a growth rate of 30 per cent per year. However, with the opening of two new stores, Wingardh said he hoped by the end of this year growth would rise by an additional 10 per cent.

Mellander told Viet Nam News that more than 50 Swedish companies were doing business in Viet Nam, and the figure was expected to increase much more.

Sweden hopes to increase export turnover to Viet Nam to US$2 billion by the end of 2015.

Next week, a delegation of 16 Swedish businesses will visit Viet Nam to introduce new solutions in green technology, urban transport, and waste management to Vietnamese businesses.

"This will follow Viet Nam's economic development strategy", she said. --VNS