Luxury European outlet mall chain Florentia Village is to open its first property in Vietnam next year as part of a Southeast Asian expansion plan.   

The group’s president, Jacopo Mazzei, said in an interview with WWD that the company chose Vietnam, because the country has a growing number of young customers interested in Western brands. 

“Luxury and fashion are still in a very initial phase in Vietnam, but the timing is right to intercept the potential of a market that will become very important,” he said. 

He said it will buy land and build the store outside Ho Chi Minh City. At the same time, the group will look into Indonesia as the second location for Florentia Village in Southeast Asia. However, Mazzei said the instability of the Indonesian currency presents the company with concerns.

The move comes after Florentia Village’s expansion in China in the past year, including the newly opened Florentia Village Chongqing. 

Florentia Village is China’s Italian designer outlet under the Italian real estate development group, RDM. Florentia Village was first launched in 2011 and currently has seven outlets across Greater China, located in Hong Kong, Tianjin, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Chengdu and Chongqing.