On the afternoon of October 2, at a press conference on the socio-economic situation of Ho Chi Minh City, Mr. Dao Quang Duong - Head of the Department of Land Economics, Department of Agriculture and Environment of Ho Chi Minh City - informed about the problems related to the Thu Thiem Eco Smart City project invested by Lotte Properties HCMC Company Limited (under Lotte Group, Korea).
According to Mr. Dao Quang Duong, since October 2022, Ho Chi Minh City has issued a decision to allocate land to Lotte. After that, the Department of Agriculture and Environment hired a consulting unit to immediately implement the determination of land prices, however, this process caused some legal problems.
By the end of 2023, the Department will submit a land price plan. In early 2024, the Government issued Decree 12 on determining land prices, leading to many projects across the country temporarily stagnating. By August 2024, Decree 71 was issued to remove difficulties, the Department quickly submitted the Lotte project dossier.
"The procedures for the Lotte project are all in accordance with regulations, the processing time is very short. The reflection related to the additional obligation of 5.4% is according to the law, under the authority of the Government. The Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee has reported to the Government and the Central Government. Up to now, we have only received feedback from Lotte, there have been no other cases" - Mr. Dao Quang Duong affirmed.
Previously, at the end of August 2025, Lotte Properties HCMC sent a document to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee and the Department of Finance, announcing the termination of the contract to implement the Eco Smart City project at functional area No. 2a, Thu Thiem New Urban Area.
According to the company's leaders, since signing the project implementation contract No. 4647 with the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee on July 26, 2017 until completing the land appraisal work on June 30, 2025, the enterprise has waited for 8 years and has always fully complied with the investor's obligations.
However, the Government's inspection process and the delay in land appraisal have caused the project to seriously stagnate, leading to increased investment costs, and being affected by changes in legal policies.
On June 19, 2025, the company sent a document to the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee to propose: Adjusting the share ownership ratio between Lotte member companies; allowing the attraction of external investors with a maximum rate of 35%; clarifying the legality related to additional revenue according to Decree 103/2024 on land use fees and land rents; adjusting the time to pay land use fees after the above recommendations are considered.
On June 27, 2025, Lotte continued to work with the Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee. By July 14, 2025, the Office of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee issued a notice of conclusion, requiring the company to fully comply with financial obligations according to the law.
After that, Lotte sent an official document to the Department of Finance to make a recommendation on additional fees and investor restructuring and was required to submit to the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee before July 10, 2025.
At the same time, the Department of Finance was assigned to coordinate with the Department of Agriculture and Environment, the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department and related units, advise the City People's Committee to report to the Government to consider Lotte's proposals, including a proposal to exempt the additional tax rate of 5.4%.
On July 17, 2025, Lotte sent an official dispatch to the Department of Finance confirming that if the proposal is not approved, the enterprise will not be able to continue implementing the project.
However, on July 23, 2025, when there was no response, the company received a notice of payment of land use fees and land rents from the Ho Chi Minh City Tax Department. According to this announcement, the land use fee for the Thu Thiem Eco Smart City project is more than 16,000 billion VND.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance said that up to now, Lotte Properties HCMC Company Limited has not yet submitted documents for project termination procedures according to the provisions of the Investment Law. Therefore, in principle, Lotte Properties HCMC is still considered an investor of the Eco Smart City project until completing legal procedures.
