Lotte Mall West Lake Hà Nội. — Photo courtesy of the shopping centre

SEOUL — Lotte Mall West Lake Hà Nội, invested by the Republic of Korea (RoK)’s Lotte Group, welcomed six million visitors from its inauguration in September, 2023 to late March, the RoK’s Dong-a Ilbo newspaper reported.

This mega commercial complex took only 122 days to surpass the 100 billion KRW (US$72.5 million) mark in revenue.

Currently, an average of 30,000 people come to this shopping centre every day on weekdays and more than 50,000 at weekends.

The inauguration of the Lotte Mall West Lake Hà Nội, which brings together 233 famous foreign and Korean brands, has taken advantage of the influence of the "Korean wave" (Hanllyu) to quickly attract Vietnamese youth, thereby contributing to economic development and cultural exchanges between the two countries, the newspaper wrote.

Việt Nam, as a potential consumer market, is increasingly attractive to international brands. Mordor Intelligence, a global market research company, predicts that Việt Nam's retail market will grow at an average annual rate of 12.1 per cent starting this year to reach about $435.6 billion by 2028.

The Lotte Group started constructing the 787-billion-KRW centre in 2018, with a purpose of establishing a Lotte Town in Việt Nam, and providing Vietnamese citizens with a premier shopping destination and an unparalleled Asian shopping experience.

The Korean group began its supermarket business in Việt Nam and Indonesia in 2008. To date, it has had 64 stores throughout Việt Nam and Indonesia, and is planning to expand its system to Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia. — VNS