On the afternoon of October 3, Nguyen Van Duoc, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, met with representatives from Lotte Properties HCMC Co., Ltd. (Lotte).

During the meeting, Duoc said that after receiving Lotte’s proposal to withdraw from the Thu Thiem Eco Smart City project, city leaders promptly engaged with the investor to hear their concerns.

Following that discussion, on September 12, the Ho Chi Minh City administration sent a report to the Prime Minister outlining the investor’s requests.

These included exemption from an additional land-use fee of 5.4% as stipulated in Decree 103/2024, permission to adjust the ownership structure among Lotte Group’s member companies, and approval to bring in outside investors with a stake of up to 35%.

The city’s chairman acknowledged that Lotte had invested considerable time, effort, and resources into the project and urged the company to continue its partnership with the city.

He called on Lotte to work with the government to resolve any outstanding issues and move the project forward.

A Lotte representative confirmed that after reviewing the city’s report and holding discussions with local authorities, the company had reached internal consensus to continue seeking opportunities to proceed with the project.

Previously, on August 20, Lotte Properties HCMC submitted a request to the Ho Chi Minh City government to terminate its contract for the Thu Thiem Eco Smart City project, ending an eight-year pursuit.

According to the South Korean investor, delays caused by inspections and prolonged land price appraisals severely impacted the project’s timeline.

This resulted in significantly increased land-use and leasing costs, along with overall investment expenses. Additionally, legal policy changes made it necessary to revise the project conditions.

Following Lotte’s withdrawal notice, a joint venture between Sunshine Group JSC and DIA Investment JSC submitted a proposal to take over the project.

However, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance stated that there was no legal basis to consider the consortium’s request.

The department noted that it had not received a formal withdrawal file from Lotte in accordance with regulations, meaning the company is still recognized as the official project investor under previously approved legal frameworks.

The Thu Thiem Eco Smart City project is located in Function Area 2A of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, An Khanh Ward, Ho Chi Minh City. It is considered one of the city’s most valuable and strategically located plots of land.

Spanning 7.4 hectares, the project was scheduled to be implemented from 2022 to 2027 with a total investment of 20.1 trillion VND (approximately 823 million USD). The land-use fee alone was set at 16.19 trillion VND (about 663 million USD).

Lotte Properties HCMC was established on October 25, 2017, and operates primarily in real estate development. The company’s legal representative and General Director is Jun Sung Ho.

At its inception, Lotte Properties HCMC had a charter capital of 4.02 trillion VND (roughly 165 million USD), contributed by four Lotte Group affiliates: Lotte Asset Development (15%), Lotte Shopping (40%), Lotte Hotel (30%), and Lotte Engineering & Construction (15%).

Tran Chung