According to Shin, Lotte has injected VND40 trillion (US$1.7 billion) into its projects in Viet Nam and created around 20,000 jobs for local workers. In addition, the group has supported Viet Nam in training workers and in start-up projects. Some Lotte scholarships have been granted to excellent Vietnamese students since 2008, while Vietnamese start-ups have received assistance from the group since 2016.

Lotte is carrying out a number of large projects in Ha Noi, including the Lotte Mall in Tay Ho District, he said, expressing his hope that they will be welcomed by local residents.

Lotte has huge potential to bolster investment in Viet Nam, especially in the hospitality sector. Shin described Ha Noi as a credible hospitality market, with the hotel reservation rate at Lotte Centre reaching 98 per cent and 100 per cent on December 3-4.

Hailing Lotte’s activities in Ha Noi, Chung said the corporation has made significant contributions to the city’s social welfare projects and created favourable conditions for Vietnamese agricultural products to hit the shelves of Lotte Mart stores in the RoK.

Briefing Shin on Ha Noi’s economic development, he said that this is the eighth consecutive year Ha Noi has recorded significant growth, with gross domestic product rising 8.56 per cent against the previous year.

The city is working to put forth administrative reforms to facilitate business of both domestic and foreign investors, including those from the RoK, he stressed, saying he hoped Lotte would continue expanding its business in the locality.

“Ha Noi stands ready to co-ordinate and remove bottlenecks for the firm to ensure its effective operation in the city,” Chung said. — VNS