[Exclusive] Lotte Eco Smart City Project Accelerates.. Ho Chi Minh City Requests Approval for Land Purchase Price

【Hanoi (Vietnam)=Bu Thuy Tien Correspondent·Kim Jun Seok Reporter】Lotte's ambitious Lotte Eco Smart City project in Thu Thiem, a key area of Ho Chi Minh City, is expected to accelerate. This is because Ho Chi Minh City has requested the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to approve the land sale price through appraisal for the land where Lotte holds land use rights, thereby speeding up the project. If the People's Committee approves this, Lotte will be able to pay the approved price to the city and proceed with the project in earnest. 
Lotte Eco Smart City project involves developing a massive complex with 5 underground floors and 60 above-ground floors in the Thu Thiem area, known as prime land in Ho Chi Minh City, with a total floor area reaching 1.5 times that of COEX, amounting to 680,000㎡. This area will include shopping malls, offices, hotels, serviced residences, and apartments.
According to Ho Chi Minh City and local media on the 27th, on the 26th, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Agriculture and Environment requested the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to approve the land price and land sale for bidding through appraisal for the land including the 7.5ha site of Lotte Eco Smart City and six plots in Thu Duc City.
As a result, the Lotte Eco Smart City project is expected to gain momentum again. Lotte signed a project implementation contract worth 900 million dollars (1.2288 trillion won) in July 2017 and started the project in earnest in early September 2022, but due to land-related issues, the project has not been able to progress for nearly three years, and the site has been left idle. 
Ho Chi Minh City expects to recover 25.4 trillion dong (1.3386 trillion won) through the sale of six plots of land, including three other land parcels in Thu Duc City, where Thu Thiem New City is located.
The sites will be sold through an open bidding process to private investors, and will be evaluated based on business feasibility, compliance with urban planning, and the investor's ability to execute.

rejune1112@fnnews.com Kim Jun Seok Reporter, Bu Thuy Tien Correspondent