Many shops on Nguyen Trai Street in District 5 sell Thai fashion products, mostly clothes for middle-aged people. Le Ngoc Dien, owner of Kha Thy Shop, said she stopped selling Chinese and Vietnamese clothing about two years ago and turned to Thai products.

Lien said that Thai clothes are more eye-catching than Vietnamese designs, although they are more expensive, though still competitive -- transportation costs for Thai products have declined to VND50,000-90,000 (USD2.38-4.28) a kilogramme.

Some 10 shops on Nguyen Oanh and Quang Trung streets in Go Vap District sell Japanese home appliances and some Japanese and Thai cosmetics.

Thai-made shoes dominate stalls at the Hanh Thong Tay night market in Go Vap District at prices of VND30,000-50,000 a pair. Shops selling Thai clothing are noticeable on Nguyen Tat Thanh Street in District 4 and Nguyen Van Linh Street in District 7.

Le Anh Tam, a customer, said he often bought Thai products because of the reasonable prices and good quality.

Many stores in HCM City, such as Family Mart, Circle K and B’s Mart, sell fast food and instant noodles imported from Thailand and Japan.

Nguyen Thanh Tu, in District 7, said more trade fairs in HCM City allowed customers to examine and learn about Thai products.

One-price shops selling Japanese products -- Hachi Hachi, Daiso and Tokutokuya -- are popular.

Vu Van Dang, director of Binh Minh Import Company, said Thai and Japanese products have appeared in Vietnam since 2009 through trade fairs. His company has moved to import Thai products, mostly clothing and food.

Japan’s Aeon Mall has recently built three big trade centres in Vietnam, aiming to raise its total trade centre numbers in the country to 20 to directly bring Japanese products into Vietnam.

Aeon has joined hands with some domestic retailers to build a large-scale distribution network. It has a 30-percent stake in Fivimart and owns 49 percent of Citimart.

Thailand’s Berli Jucker Group has bought 40 stores of Family Mart to bring more Thai products into the Vietnamese market, and has spent USD880 million on Metro Vietnam.