S Korea chaebol Lotte eyes hypermarket in northern Vietnam

South Korean conglomerate Lotte is eyeing projects in Thai Nguyen province, an industrial hub in northern Vietnam, firstly a hypermarket.

At a Tuesday meeting with the provincial leadership, Kang Sung-huyn, CEO of Lotte Shopping, a member of Lotte Group, stated that Thai Nguyen is a dynamic and developing economic center in northern Vietnam, with many industrial zones and the presence of large foreign corporations, notably Samsung Group, also from South Korea.

The province is one of the most sought-after destinations for South Korean investments, he added.

In response, provincial Party chief Trinh Viet Hung noted that the locations Lotte is considering are in prime, central areas, with favorable transportation links and high connectivity to provinces in the capital region and the northern midlands.

“Thai Nguyen pledges to create the most favorable conditions for Lotte to implement this important project,” he emphasized.

Kang said that his group will prioritize executing the Lotte hypermarket project in Thai Nguyen as soon as possible.

It will also consider investing in other fields of its strength such as construction, real estate, and development of commercial service complexes in the province, he added.

Headquartered in Seoul, Lotte is one of South Korea’s largest multinational conglomerates. The group’s activities include production of confectionery, beverages and fast food, hotels, retail, financial services, chemicals, electronics, information technology, construction, publishing, and entertainment.

Lotte has a presence in over 30 countries and has been investing in the Vietnamese market since 1996.

As of 2022, Lotte had poured nearly $5 billion in Vietnam with more than 20 subsidiaries operating in various sectors such as retail, food, hotels, construction, and information technology.

In a meeting with Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in July 2024, Shin Dong-bin, chairman of Lotte Group, expressed a desire to expand the Lotte Mall model to other provinces beyond Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

In Vietnam, by the end of the fourth quarter of 2024, Lotte Shopping had owned three Lotte Mall shopping centers and 15 Lotte Mart supermarkets.

Lotte Shopping earned a revenue of KRW483 billion ($333 million) in Vietnam in 2024, according to the firm’s 2024 performance review.

For the department store segment, it posted a revenue of KRW87 billion ($60 million) in Vietnam last year, up 116.3% year-on-year.