HANOI - The Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT) 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, reported Vietnam News Agency on Friday quoting the MIT as saying.

According to MIT, presently the modern retail distribution channels accounts for only 20 percent of the total retail trade, including food, hardware and appliances. 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.

However, traditional markets accounted for 80 percent of the total retail market, said MIT.

In the Development Strategy for Domestic Market during 2011- 2020, MIT focused on developing the distribution system nationwide, creating favourable conditions to develop businesses in all economic sectors, especially providing supports for small and medium-sized enterprises.

It also planned to create an association to establish big groups for retail distribution systems, and develop commercial infrastructure to accelerate the domestic market and open the retail market under the road map established when it joined the WTO.

According to MIT, domestic market turnover this year was expected to reach nearly 2 trillion Vietnamese dong ($95 million), increasing 29 percent over last year.

The strategy aims to reach a domestic growth rate of 10 percent a year while turnover would be 20 percent of GDP, reported MIT.