Ho Chi Minh City removes obstacles, Eco Smart City restarts

The legal problems that once caused Lotte to withdraw are now being resolved by Ho Chi Minh City, paving the way for the Eco Smart City project to continue.

Lotte Eco Smart City smart complex project land in Thu Thiem - Photo: NGOC HIEN

On the afternoon of October 3, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc, along with Vice Chairmen of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and leaders of departments and branches, worked with the Korean Lotte Group regarding the Lotte Eco Smart City smart complex project.

Lotte Group's representative thanked the Ho Chi Minh City leaders for their attention and support for the project and affirmed that the City People's Committee's actions made the investor confident enough to continue investing.

Lotte changes its mind

At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc acknowledged and highly appreciated the efforts of Lotte Properties HCMC Company Limited in implementing the project and affirmed that the City always accompanies the enterprise to implement the project, contributing to the development of the City and the development of the enterprise.

Expressing his opinion, Mr. Jun Sung Ho - General Director of Lotte Properties HCMC Co., Ltd. - thanked the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and leaders of departments and branches for encouraging and motivating Lotte to continue developing the project. At the same time, Ho Chi Minh City has paid attention to the enterprise by sending a document to the Government , proposing the issues that Lotte had sent to the City.

"We feel the attention of the city's leaders towards foreign investors, Korean in general and Lotte in particular, showing the welcome in the city's investment environment," said Mr. Jun Sung Ho.

Recalling the incident, he said that on August 20, the investor sent a document to the City People's Committee requesting to terminate the project. However, on August 29, Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc met directly with the group and encouraged them, which made the group's leaders change their views.

Then, on September 12, the City People's Committee sent a document to the Prime Minister and raised the investor's recommendations, helping the group have confidence in continuing to develop the project.

Chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc shook hands with Lotte Group representative after the meeting - Photo: Contributor

Ho Chi Minh City always accompanies and supports businesses

The project's problems were raised by Mr. Jun Sung Ho at the meeting and he hoped to receive the sharing of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, including: Firstly, allowing the adjustment of the share ownership ratio between member companies in Lotte Group. Secondly, allowing the attraction of outside investors with a maximum ratio of 35%. Thirdly, exempting the application of the additional fee for late payment of land use fees of 5.4%.

For each investor's proposal, the Chairman of the City People's Committee discussed with both Lotte and representatives of each department to have a separate solution for each proposal. In which, the City proposed to exempt the additional 5.4% fee as well as propose the Central Government to allow the adjustment of the share ownership ratio between member companies in Lotte Group, allowing the attraction of outside investors with a maximum ratio of 35%.

Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc affirmed that Ho Chi Minh City is very interested in domestic and foreign investors coming to the city, including Lotte's project. According to him, the meeting with the full presence of the city's leaders and Lotte Group is proof of the city's leaders' interest in investors.

"We hope that investors will accompany the city, together overcome difficulties, continue to develop the project, accompany the city's development and Lotte's development," he said.

After 40 minutes of working, Mr. Nguyen Van Duoc came to shake hands with Mr. Jun Sung Ho with smiles on the lips of both the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and Lotte.

"I request that investors in the city in general and Lotte in particular continue to trust in the investment environment of Ho Chi Minh City in particular and Vietnam in general," Mr. Duoc concluded the meeting.

Land price problems at Lotte Eco Smart City project due to changes in the Land Law

Regarding the problem of determining specific land prices for projects, recently Mr. Dao Quang Duong - Head of the Land Economics Department (Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City) - said that it was mainly due to changes in the Land Law regulations.

"For this project, the price determination procedures are correct and the processing time is very short. The business's reflection on the additional financial obligation of 5.4% is according to the law and under the authority of the Government. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has reported to the Government. Up to now, we have only received reflections from Lotte, there have been no other cases," said Mr. Duong.

Multi-functional commercial, service and residential area

Lotte Eco Smart City smart complex is invested by Lotte Properties HCMC Co., Ltd. (belonging to Lotte Group, Korea) under the form of investor selection.

In August 2022, the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a decision to allocate and lease land (No. 2862) for the company to implement the project. After receiving the land handover, Lotte Properties HCMC held a groundbreaking ceremony in September 2022. However, due to legal problems, the project has not yet been able to start construction. In early 2025, the investor held a groundbreaking ceremony for the project's technical infrastructure, expected to be completed in August 2028.

By June 30, 2025, the project land was approved by the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee with a specific land price of more than VND 16,190 billion.

Lotte Eco Smart City is located in functional area No. 2A, Thu Thiem new urban area with a total area of ​​7.4 hectares. Of which, the project area is more than 5 hectares, the remaining land for traffic and technical infrastructure is allocated without collecting land use fees. The project area will invest in a commercial area, comprehensive services and multi-functional residential area, including 11 towers of 5-50 floors.

For the traffic area, the investor will complete the construction of four road sections and technical infrastructure system. The project is expected to be implemented in the 2022-2027 period with a total investment of 20,100 billion VND.

Lotte Properties HCMC Company was established on October 25, 2017, operating mainly in the real estate business. The legal representative and general director is Mr. Jun Sung Ho. When it was first established, the company had a charter capital of VND 4,020 billion with four shareholders contributing capital from Lotte Group: Lotte Asset Development (15%), Lotte Shopping (40%), Lotte Hotel (30%) and Lotte Engineering & Construction (15%).

Prioritize open mechanisms to attract investment

On October 2, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee Tran Luu Quang chaired a meeting of the Ho Chi Minh City Steering Committee on implementing Resolution 57 of the Politburo on breakthroughs in science and technology development, innovation and national digital transformation.

At the meeting, one of the contents emphasized by Mr. Quang was that Ho Chi Minh City, within its assigned authority, needs to apply the most open mechanism to call for investment, reform administrative procedures and prioritize infrastructure arrangement to serve development.

At the working session with Lotte Group on the afternoon of October 3, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Nguyen Van Duoc also affirmed that in order to unlock resources, improve the investment environment for the goal of economic growth and combat waste, the City People's Committee has established a special working group to review and remove difficulties and obstacles for constructions, projects and land plots in Ho Chi Minh City, headed by the Chairman of the City People's Committee.

At the same time, proactively coordinate with central ministries and branches to resolve projects identified as falling under the authority of the central level.

Lover - NGOC HIEN

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/tp-hcm-thao-go-vuong-mac-eco-smart-city-tai-khoi-dong-20251004074046487.htm