Singapore’s NTUC FairPrice and Vietnam’s Saigon Co-op have joined forces to set up a chain of hypermarkets in Vietnam.

Saigon Co-op will hold 64 per cent stake in the venture which will have a paid up capital of US$6 million.

The joint venture will open two hypermarket brands – Co.opXtra and Co.opXtra Plus. Each hypermarket brand will stock around 50,000 products.

The first Co.opXtra plus will open on May 17 in Thu Duc District, half an hour from downtown Ho Chi Minh City.

The joint venture plans to open one or two new hypermarkets annually taking the network to 20 hypermarkets by 2020.

Saigon Co-op owns and operates a chain of Co-op Mart supermarkets and Co-op food branded convenience stores in Vietnam with a strong presence in Ho Chi Minh City and other cities in the country.

NTUC FairPrice is Singapore’s largest retailer, with a network of more than 270 stores comprising FairPrice supermarkets, FairPrice Finest, FairPrice Xtra, FairPrice Xpress and Cheers convenience stores.

“One reason we found FairPrice as the right fit for our venture into hypermarkets is how we both uphold the social mission for our people. We are the people’s retailer and we want to evolve with our customers in Vietnam who now want a variety of services and products at our stores,” says Saigon Co-op chairman Nguyen Ngoc Hoa.