Hanoi's chairman Nguyen Duc Chung has just approved a plan to install 1,000 vending machines by 2020 to make shopping more convenient for local consumers and visitors.
A woman buys drinks at a vending machine by the Hoan Kiem Lake. Photo by the Doi song & Phap Ly
The plan aims to modernise the retail model and head to replace street-side vendors in the long term.
In the plan, by 2020, the capital city intends to install and put some 1,000 vending machines into operation at public sites including hospitals, schools, bus stations, depots, passenger waiting rooms, historic and cultural sites, tourist attractions and parks.
Each machine will be placed on an area covering around two to three square metres. Depending on demand, up to four adjacent vending machines could be placed on one slot, according to the plan.
Currently, the city’s pedestrian streets around Hoan Kiem Lake has been equipped with seven drink vending machines, each of which stands on an area of one square meters with 300 products available.