[VNA]

Lotte to open department store in Vietnam

source: TM

SEOUL, Jul 23, 2009 (Asia Pulse Data Source via COMTEX) -- South Korean retailer Lotte Shopping Co. said Wednesday it plans to open its first department store in Vietnam in 2013.

For the project, Lotte signed a contract with Coralis SA to purchase the Luxembourg-based property developer's license for 69.7 billion won (US$55.7 million) to build a commercial complex in Hanoi, the company said in a statement.

The department store will be located at the 65-story building in Hanoi, to be built at the commercial complex by Lotte and its affiliates.

Lotte and the affiliates will spend a total of 350 billion won for the project, according to the statement.

Once completed, the department store in Hanoi will be Lotte's fourth overseas department store.

Lotte opened its first overseas department store in Moscow of Russia in 2007 and operates two outlets in China.

Park Geum-soo, head of overseas business at Lotte Department Store, said in the statement that the company would accelerate its push to make inroads into emerging markets such as Vietnam, Russia and India