The company also announced its decision to buy the remaining 20% of its Vietnamese partner Minh Van Company to become a 100% foreign-invested company in Vietnam. Lotte also has plans to inaugurate two retail centers in Dong Nai Province and Danang City at the end of this year.

Speaking at the meeting on Wednesday with Moon Young-Pyo, executive managing director for Lotte Southeast Asia, HCMC vice chairwoman Nguyen Thi Hong said foreign retailers will be supported to expand distribution network into outlying areas and bring Vietnamese goods to the global market.

"The city center is covered by many retail centers while the distribution network in outlying districts fails to meet demands of the large population there,” Hong explained.

Concerning support for Vietnamese goods export, Hong suggested that Lotte brings Vietnamese goods to its 256 retail points worldwide.

German supermarket chain Metro has recently agreed to launch Vietnamese goods at its network and Metro’s purchasing executives have worked with local suppliers. Many Vietnamese products have been displayed in Europe thanks to Metro’s retail centers, Hong added.

Moon of Lotte also said that its stores in South Korea obtained over US$52 million from selling Vietnamese goods worldwide last year.

"We have invited around 150 Vietnamese suppliers to learn about demands and purchasing criteria of Lotte. Among these, many enterprises have been chosen,” Moon said.