The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade wants to move the nation away from traditional markets to a modern retail distribution system, accounting for 40 percent of the total retail trade by 2020.

Presently the modern retail distribution channels accounted for only 20 percent of the total retail trade, including food, hardware, appliances etc, Deputy Minister Ho Thi Kim Thoa told a conference in Ha Noi last Tuesday. The rest was sold at traditional markets.

Statistics from the ministry showed that the country now had more than 8,500 traditional markets, 615 supermarkets and 102 commercial centres.