A new shopping centre to be built in Yangon, Myanmar is sure to attract the middle class spending power in the country, thanks to a joint venture between Japan's Aeon and the Myanmar conglomerate Shwe Taung Group.

The growth prospects of Myanmar has attracted the large investment into the retail sector.

Figures from the International Monetary Fund show that with a population of 53 million people, the annual growth of the country has stabilised around 6-7 per cent with a per capita GDP of $1,244 last year.

Aeon is considered Japan's top retailer and has had a presence in Myanmar since 2011.

It was the first foreign retailer to establish itself in Myanmar after the government changed to a civilian one.

In 2016 Aeon opened a supermarket in Yangon and now has more than 10 stores there. 

Aeon also runs a microfinancing business.

"We will continue our targeted investment in Asia," President Akio Yoshida told the Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asian Review in January, before assuming the post in March.

The representative [of the region] is Vietnam, where the average age is about 30 years old, and the population is inching toward 100 million.

"I think the country will trace the same trajectory Japan once traveled toward a '100 million middle class.'"

Find out more about Aeon here.

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