Lotte’s Eco Smart City project might restart thanks to Ho Chi Minh City support

The move marked a turning point for the smart city complex in the heart of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, which had previously faced potential cancellation.

Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee Nguyen Van Duoc and many officials on Friday worked with top executives from South Korea’s Lotte Group, the investor behind the stalled project.

The meeting reaffirmed the city’s commitment to resolving investor concerns and creating a more favorable investment environment.

“We felt the sincere attention and encouragement from city leaders, who helped us believe in the future of the project and the investment climate of Ho Chi Minh City,” said Jun Sung Ho, general director of Lotte Properties HCMC Company.

He said that on August 20, the investor submitted an official request to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to terminate the project.

However, chairman Duoc met directly with the group and offered encouragement on August 29, which led the company’s leadership to change their stance.

In mid-September, the city submitted a formal report to the prime minister outlining Lotte’s concerns and requesting the government intervention on several key issues.

Pinpointing some key obstacles, Jun also presented three proposals, including the adjustment of shareholding ratios among Lotte’s member companies, the permission to attract outside investors with a stake of up to 35 percent and a waiver of a 5.4-percent late payment surcharge on land use fees.

Each of these was addressed in detail during the meeting.

The city pledged to propose a waiver of the 5.4-percent surcharge to the government and support Lotte’s requests regarding shareholding adjustments and external investment.

The municipal chairman affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City welcomes both local and international investors.

The presence of many officials from multiple departments at the meeting with Lotte Group underscored the city's strong commitment to facilitating investment, he stressed.

Land price hurdles at Lotte Eco Smart City

Regarding the difficulties in determining the specific land price for the project, Dao Quang Duong, head of the land economics division under the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Agriculture and Environment, explained that the primary issue stems from changes to the Land Law.

“For this project, the procedures for determining the land price were carried out correctly, and the processing time was very short.

“The additional 5.4-percent financial obligation is in accordance with legal provisions and falls under the authority of the government,” he said.

The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has already reported the matter to the government.

“So far, we have only received feedback from Lotte, while no other cases have been reported,” he stated.

A mega project

In August 2022, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee issued a decision to allocate and lease land for Lotte Properties HCMC Company, a unit of Lotte Group, to implement the project.

After receiving the land handover, the firm held a groundbreaking ceremony in September 2022.

However, due to legal obstacles, construction was unable to commence.

In early 2025, the investor held a groundbreaking ceremony for the project’s technical infrastructure, which is expected to be completed by August 2028.

On June 30, the land value for the project site was approved at over VND16.19 trillion (US$613.6 million).

Lotte Eco Smart City is situated in Functional Zone 2A of the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, covering a total area of 7.4 hectares.

Of this, more than five hectares are allocated for the project itself, while the remaining area is designated for transportation and technical infrastructure, which is provided without land use fees.

The project will feature commercial, service, and residential components, with 11 towers ranging from five to 50 stories.

As for the area designated for transportation, the investor plans to construct four road sections along with the associated technical infrastructure.

The investor initially planned to invest VND20.1 trillion ($762 million) in the project during the 2022-27 period, but later proposed raising the figure to VND57 trillion ($2.2 billion).

It also requested changes to capital structure among Lotte subsidiaries, extensions to project timelines, and legal clarifications.

Established on October 25, 2017, Lotte Properties HCMC Company specializes in real estate.

The company’s legal representative and general director is Jun Sung Ho.

At the time of its founding, the company had a charter capital of VND4,020 billion ($152.4 million), contributed by four subsidiaries of the Lotte Group: Lotte Asset Development (15 percent), Lotte Shopping (40 percent), Lotte Hotel (30 percent), and Lotte Engineering & Construction (15 percent).

Commitment to investment climate

At the working session with Lotte Group on Friday, Ho Chi Minh City chairman Duoc reaffirmed that in order to unlock resources, improve the investment environment for economic growth, and prevent wastefulness, the city had set up a special task force to review and resolve difficulties and obstacles for construction projects and land plots in the city.

The task force is led by the chairman.

Just a day earlier, Ho Chi Minh City Party Secretary Tran Luu Quang chaired a meeting focused on implementing Resolution 57 of the Politburo, which calls for a breakthrough in science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation.

A key message from the meeting was the need for flexible, streamlined mechanisms to attract investment.