Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin likely to visit Vietnam on Sept 22

Lotte Group chairman Shin Dong-bin might visit Vietnam on September 22 to attend the grand opening ceremony of Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi operated by Lotte Shopping, Business Korea quoted sources as saying.

Lotte is opening the $250 million Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi to expand its presence in the Asian market. The mall is a large-scale commercial complex featuring a shopping mall, a supermarket, a hotel, an aquarium, a movie theater, and other major Lotte affiliates.

Located in the heart of Hanoi’s West Lake area, it stands as the largest of its kind locally and is set to have its grand opening on September 22, following a pre-opening event on July 28.

With this opening, Lotte Shopping anticipates creating employment opportunities for more than 3,000 local residents and serving as a stepping stone for South Korean companies’ overseas expansion and the dissemination of Korean culture.

Vice chairman Kim Sang-hyun of Lotte Shopping, who will attend the upcoming opening ceremony, said, “We will establish Lotte Mall West Lake as a landmark in Vietnam. Through this endeavor, Lotte Shopping aims to leap beyond South Korea and become Asia’s top shopping destination.”

The complex has a gross floor area of about 354,000 square meters, about 50 soccer fields in size, according to the retail arm of Lotte Group, South Korea's fifth-largest conglomerate. It aims to make the new mall a premier landmark and central business hub in Hanoi, the firm said. The complex’s basement will house Lotte Mart, a grocery store spreading over 4,300 square meters. In addition, Bottle Bunker, a wine specialty store, will occupy some 800 square meters.

In Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam’s southern economic hub, Lotte Group is developing its $900 million multi-function Eco Smart City on the Thu Thiem peninsula.

The project will cover 50,000 square meters, comprising a shopping mall, a hotel, office buildings, serviced apartments and a residential complex. It will include five underground floors and 60 above and deploy smart technologies, the company said.

Lotte Shopping, a distribution unit under South Korean conglomerate Lotte, recorded a revenue of KRW190 billion ($144.2 million) from its operations in Vietnam in the first half of this year.