The newly opened Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi (Photo: taichinhdoanhnghiep.net.vn) On September 22, Lotte GroupChairman ShinDong-bin came to Vietnam to attend the opening ceremony of Lotte Mall West Lake Hanoi. With an invetment of 643 million USD, this mall is currently the biggest project of Lotte that has become operational in Vietnam.
EnteringVietnam in 1996, the group has opened shopping centres and supermarkets andthen expanded operations to other fields such as hotels and cinemas. Lotte nowhas 19 member companies in Vietnam, Shin said as cited by Dau tu (VietnamInvestment Review).
Lotte has reportedly channelled about5 billion USD into Vietnam, and the figure is expected to keep rising. When heattended the launch of work on Lotte Eco Smart City Thu Thiem, worth 900million USD, in September last year, Shin said this project marked the start ofa series of more Lotte investments in the country in the time ahead.
Alsoon September 22, SK Group, another giant from the RoK, was granted aninvestment registration certificate to pour more capital into Vietnam. Via itsaffiliate SKC, the group will invest 500 million USD in a hi-tech biodegradablematerial factory in Hai Phong city. Construction of this plant is set to kickoff in later this year and be completed in the third quarter of 2024.
CEO of SKC Park Won-cheol noted thefirm has invested in the country for five years, with about 3 billion USD intotal, adding that he will call for more Korean enterprises to invest inVietnam in general and Hai Phong in particular.
Afew days before that, Hana Micron, a major business in the RoK’s semiconductorindustry, inaugurated its second factory in Bac Giang province, in the VanTrung Industrial Park. With this project, Hana Micron’s total investment inVietnam now stands at 600 million USD.
During the first eight months of 2023, the RoK ranked fourth among foreign investors in Vietnam, but topped the list in terms of additional capital and spending on contributing capital to or buying shares of Vietnamese companies. (Photo: VNA) Attending the inauguration of thesecond factory, Hana Micron Chairman Choi Chang-ho said the group plans toraise its investment to over 1 billion USD by 2025. At that time, the factoryis set to gain 800 million USD in revenue and create over 4,000 jobs.
During the first eight months of2023, the RoK ranked fourth among foreign investors in Vietnam, followingSingapore, China, and Japan. However, it remains the biggest investor in termsof accumulated capital.
Meanwhile,this Northeast Asian country still topped the list in terms of additional capital(accounting for 27.6%) and spending on contributing capital to or buying sharesof Vietnamese companies (28.7%) during the eight months, according to theForeign Investment Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
Directorof the agency Do Nhat Hoang told the Vietnam - RoK business forum, held during RoK President Yoon Suk Yeo’s State visit to Vietnam in late June, that hehad a list of tens of pending projects, some of which are worth millions of USDwhile some up to 1 billion USD.
Major enterprises are still eyeingVietnam and considering it their No 1 investment destination, he noted./.
VNA
