Elise has more than 100 stores across the country. Uniqlo had earlier announced plans to open a store in HCM City next year. Its arrival in Vietnam is expected to intensify the competition for foreign brands like Zara and H&M, which came in 2016 and 2017.Currently Vietnamese can only buy Uniqlo products from local retailers or have to order them from Japan. A number of international fashion brands have entered Vietnam since the country opened up its retail market to foreign investment in 2015. Vietnam’s fashion market is estimated to grow to more than 3.8 billion USD this year and to over 5 billion USD by 2021, according to BMI Research.