Quietly located in the mountainous border area, a series of buildings that were once expected to become a bustling commercial center (TTTM) in Tan Thanh market (Van Lang district, Lang Son province) are now covered in dust and deserted in the middle of the hills.
The massive concrete blocks with tightly locked iron doors, once expected to welcome thousands of visitors every day, are now just an "empty shell" in the border area.
In the period of 2005 - 2015, in the wave of border trade development, the Tan Thanh border gate area was planned to become a modern commercial and logistics complex, associated with the unit market and Vietnam - China goods transit centers.
Many private investment and joint venture projects are continuously licensed. Works such as Hong Kong shopping mall, Viet - Trung shopping mall, Saigon Tan Thanh shopping mall or a row of high-rise kiosks along the main road were built simultaneously, expected to become a large commercial unit of the whole area.
However, after nearly two decades, the reporter's records in April 2025 show that most of the shopping malls in Tan Thanh market are in a state of "dead and unfinished".
Many buildings were severely damaged, with broken roofs, cracked glass doors, and many items were left empty and unattended. The walls are peeling, and weeds grow wildly from concrete cracks to the base of the foundation.
Some works are only used as temporary parking lots or warehouses. The busy entrance is now deserted. Many kiosks in Hong Kong market are still open but operating at a low level.
"This house has been completed and completed for many years but has not been able to welcome traders to do business" - a bored trader pointed to Saigon - Tan Thanh shopping mall.
According to some economic experts, the underlying cause of the decline, in addition to the epidemic, is factors such as changes in trade policies, logistics, supply chain shift and e-commerce competition. This also has a significant impact on local budget collection.
On April 22, speaking with reporters, a representative of the Dong Dang - Lang Son Border Gate Economic Zone Management Board said: "In the Tan Thanh Border Gate area, there are currently 29 non-budgetary investment projects, but so far only about 20 projects are still operating or showing signs of operation".
Among these, there are projects with a total investment of over 100 billion VND such as Saigon - Tan Thanh shopping mall or Kim Le Hoa hotel, located in the center with an area of over 8,000m2.
Regarding the fate of billion-dollar projects that are currently abandoned, a representative of the Border Gate Economic Zone Management Board said: the province has directed competent authorities to inspect and review projects that are no longer in operation to reclaim land and hand it over to other investors with real needs.
"For the combination of border gate market and food market in Tan Thanh, we have submitted a document to the Department of Industry and Trade requesting the transfer of market infrastructure assets to the People's Committee of Van Lang district for more effective reception, management and exploitation" - the representative of the Management Board added.
