Seoul, Nov 5 - Lotte Shopping, faced with a glut of retail outlets at home in South Korea, has won approval to set up discount stores in Vietnam and plans to open the first outlet in early 2008, the company said on Sunday.
Lotte has signed a joint venture contract with Vietnam's Minh Van Manufacture Trade Private Enterprise in December and plans to invest $15 million to establish Lotte Vietnam Shopping Co., the company said in a statement.
The first store is planned for Ho Chi Minh City in the first half of 2008, Lotte said. It plans up to 20 stores in major cities including Hanoi in the longer term, it said.
Lotte, South Korea's largest department store operator, is venturing overseas at a time when fierce competition and slowing consumer demand are pressuring margins in the country's mature $120 billion retail industry.
The company runs the third-biggest discount store, Lotte Mart, in South Korea and aims to open a department store in Moscow by the end of the year.