Metro opened its first cash and carry in Vietnam as foreign expansion picks up speed

Metro opened its first cash and carry in Vietnam as expansion in Asia picks up speed

Today, the first Metro Cash & Carry wholesale hypermarket was opened in Vietnam. The store in Ho-Chi-Minh-City, ex Saigon, is the first of a planned chain of eight markets in Vietnam. After China, this is the second Asian country where Metro is now present. Next year, the first cash and carry market will open in Japan. Feasibility studies have already been made also in other Asian countries.

Ho-Chi-Minh-City saw the first Vietnamese Metro Cash and Carry market open today. The German multinational is stepping up its foreign expansion. UNI Commerce and its affiliates will follow up through trade union organising campaigns. Metro has always underlined that they want to respect local legislation wherever they go, including the right of workers to organise.

The cash and carry chain is the most important money generator for Metro, particularly as the German consumer market is down and price competition is putting hard pressure on margins. In many recent statements, the company has indicated that the already fast expansion pace of the Metro Cash and Carry chain outside Germany will be stepped up further.

New cash and carry boss

Very recently, there was a change in the top management of Metro Cash & Carry as Bernd Bothe was replaced by Thomas Hübner as general manager. German analysts see this as a signal that the expansion outside Germany will get added priority, Hübner comes to this job from a position where he lead the operations in central and Eastern Europe.

Last year saw a 5.5 per cent growth of Metro AG's turnover, which reached 49.5 billion Euro (almost 45 billion USD). Of this, 44.5 per cent or almost half is already generated abroad. The company's aim is to reach a turnover of 52 billion Euro for this year, which calls for a further increase in foreign operations. They are soon expected to produce more than half of the company's total turnover. Metro AG employs altogether 230,848 workers, corresponding to 187,000 full time workplaces.

In Germany, as well as in Europe in general, Metro workers are well organised in UNI Commerce affiliated trade unions. At the forthcoming UNI Commerce Commercial Workers' Summit in Sydney, Australia, joint organising efforts also outside Europe will be discussed and agreed.