Lee Jong Kook, general director of Lotte Coralis – the developer of Lotte Hanoi Centre, said the project had reached its 30th floor after more than two years of construction.

"This is a very large project then we [developer and contractors] need much time to do preparation, especially as it takes too much time to build the first five basements underground,” Kook said.

The Lotte Hanoi Centre will be the second highest building in Hanoi with 65 storeys and is located on the corner between Kim Ma and Dao Tan streets.

Kook said with the current construction speed he expected that the whole project could be put into operation on schedule in 2014 and he stressed that Lotte Group had sustainable financial resources which insured capital kept flowing when other projects struggled.

"The big difference compared to other developers is that we have brought capital investment into Vietnam to develop our property here to do business, not mobilising capital from the domestic market, so we are not impacted by financial crisis,” he said.

Moreover, Lotte Coralis also wants to keep the prestige of Lotte’s brand name in Vietnam.

"We have implementing the project with highest responsibility in order to keep highest labour safety environment,” he added.

Lotte started construction in October 2009 and the $400 million complex extends over more than 14,000 square metres. When finished, it will house more than 42,200sqm of department store space. Inside, there will also be 300 hotel rooms while 63,500sqm is given over to office space.

Serviced apartments are to take up about 40,000sqm and there is provision for 1,130 parking lots.

When completed, the new Lotte tower will be the third highest in the country behind the 70-storey Keangnam Hanoi Landmark Tower in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City’s 68-storey Bitexco Financial Tower.

The project was originally a joint venture between Luxembourg-based company Coralis SA and Lohr Industrie in 2005. However in 2008 the project was transferred to Lotte at a cost of $55.7 million.