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Lotte plans to open 30 supermarkets in Vietnam
The first Lotte Mart opened today in HCM City, with investment capital up to US$75 million. This South Korean retailer plans to invest US$5 billion to open 30 supermarkets in big cities of Vietnam within 15 years.
Lotte Mart received investment licence to Vietnam just three days before Vietnam joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2006. “We wanted to open our supermarkets in Vietnam before we entered China and Indonesia but because of some reasons, till now Lotte Mart appears in South Saigon,” said Noh Byung Yong, General Director of Lotte Mart group.
In the past two years, since Vietnam accessed to the WTO, Lottee is the first big foreign retailer going to Vietnam. Last year Hong Kong’s Wellcome joined the local distribution market but it hired five supermarkets from Vietnamese retailer Citmiart.
Lotte Mart comes to Vietnam through a joint venture with Minh Van Company, named Lotte Shopping Vietnam Co., Ltd., in which the Korean investor contribute 80% of capital. This is the first Lotte Mart’s overseas joint venture, though it has 90 supermarkets in four countries.
Noh Byung Yong said the Lotte supermarket in HCM City is especially important for Lotte Mart because it is the first overseas mart that is invested by managed by Lott Mart group. The system of Lotte supermarkets in China (8) or Indonesia (19) were transferred from the Marco group.
The General Director of Lotte Vietnam, Lee Sang Woo, said the Lotte South Saigon supermarket is the largest trading centre in Vietnam, totaling 33,000sq.m. Nearly 10% of goods are imported from South Korea and most of the remaining are local goods. Lee expected to turn this mart into a cultural, entertainment and shopping centre of the South Saigon area.
Lotte’s opening of its supermarket in Vietnam before January 1, 2009, the moment that Vietnam has to entirely open its distribution market under WTO commitments, is said to be the first gunshot in the local retail market.
In the past two years, many local distributors like Saigon Coop, Citimart, Phu Thai have raced with the time to expand their supermarket systems to prepare for January 1, 2009.
Lotte Mart belongs to the Lotte Group of South Korea, the fifth largest group in this country, which operates in distribution, food, heavy chemical, credit, construction and tourism areas.
VNE
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