On September 16, in Hanoi, a delegation from the Newspaper of Industry and Trade conducted an assessment of Lotte Properties Hanoi Co., Ltd.'s application for the 2026 Vietnam Industry, Trade and Services Award.

The delegation from the Newspaper of Industry and Trade for the 2026 Vietnam Industry, Trade and Services Award included Nguyen Van Minh, Editor-in-Chief of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade, Deputy Head of the Award Organising Committee and Vice Chairman of the Award Council; Nguyen Tien Cuong, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade and Deputy Head of the Award Secretariat; Duong Thi Nga, Head of the Events and Special Projects Division of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade and a member of the Award Secretariat; Nguyen Van Huyen, Deputy Chief of the Office of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade and a member of the Award Secretariat; and Nguyen Lan Anh, Chief Accountant of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade and a member of the Award Secretariat.

Lotte Properties Hanoi Co., Ltd. was represented by Kim Joon Young, General Director of Lotte Properties Hanoi Co., Ltd., along with representatives of the company's departments and divisions.

As part of the assessment of applications for the 2026 Vietnam Industry, Trade and Services Award, the delegation from the Newspaper of Industry and Trade, led by Editor-in-Chief Nguyen Van Minh, held discussions with Kim Joon Young to clarify information concerning the company's business operations, budget contributions, workforce, sustainable development and level of engagement with the Vietnamese market.

Rather than simply cross-checking figures in the application, the working session focused on clarifying the substance behind the indicators, the company's outstanding advantages, as well as information that should be supplemented to ensure that the application fully reflects Lotte's contributions during its operations in Vietnam.

Clarifying contributions to the Vietnamese market

Editor-in-Chief of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade Nguyen Van Minh said Lotte is a global group operating in a wide range of fields, including tourism and hospitality, real estate, wholesale, retail and emerging areas related to energy. These are all fields directly linked to the management responsibilities of the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Based on the company's report, he described Lotte as a notable example of business and service activities in Vietnam.

However, Nguyen Van Minh stressed that participation in the Vietnam Industry, Trade and Services Award requires an application to demonstrate not only the company's scale or business performance but also its specific contributions to the Vietnamese economy.

In addition to clarifying information provided by the company in its Award application, Nguyen Tien Cuong, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade, also outlined the scale of the Vietnam Industry, Trade and Services Award over successive editions, as well as changes to the Award criteria in 2026 to reflect the new context of the Vietnamese economy and market requirements for businesses.

The Newspaper of Industry and Trade assists the Ministry of Industry and Trade in organising the Award and serves as its standing body, while the consideration and recognition of award-winning enterprises fall under the authority of the Award Council. Therefore, the information contained in each application must be sufficiently persuasive for the Council to determine why a business merits recognition.

One of the issues particularly emphasised by the Editor-in-Chief of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade was the extent of Lotte's links with domestic production and consumption. For a global group with a long-standing presence in Vietnam, its contribution should not be measured solely by revenue or tax payments. In the retail sector, Lotte has a particular advantage in helping Vietnamese goods reach consumers more effectively, thereby promoting domestic consumption and making a practical contribution to economic growth.

At the same time, he called on the company to increase the proportion of Vietnamese goods on its shelves, creating more space and opportunities for Vietnamese products, particularly those with quality and competitiveness. When a business is recognised as an outstanding enterprise in the fields of industry, trade and services, an important consideration is how it demonstrates its contribution to the Vietnamese economy.

For its part, Kim Joon Young, General Director of Lotte Properties Hanoi Co., Ltd., said the group had introduced many domestic products into its supermarket system. Notably, through Lotte's system, the company has contributed to the export of more than USD 10 million worth of Vietnamese agricultural products to the US market. The company will take into account the delegation's recommendations and continue efforts to bring Vietnamese goods into its distribution system.

According to information provided by the company, Lotte Mall currently has more than 200 brands, of which around 70% are international brands and 30% are domestic brands. However, many products of international brands are also processed and manufactured in Vietnam. In particular, the company plans to renovate part of the fourth floor in the first quarter of 2027 to promote Vietnamese culture and create additional opportunities for Vietnamese small and medium-sized enterprises to reach consumers and expand their business opportunities.

Sustainable development adds value to the application

Alongside market and product-related issues, the assessment delegation spent considerable time examining sustainable development criteria, as these are considered among the factors that could distinguish Lotte's application.

Deputy Editor-in-Chief of the Newspaper of Industry and Trade Nguyen Tien Cuong called on the company to highlight more clearly its achievements in energy efficiency, emissions reduction, social activities and environmental protection. Among businesses with comparable scale and business performance, these factors can help the Award Council gain a clearer understanding of the strengths and quality of development of each enterprise.

Notably, the rooftop solar power project was among the key areas discussed. Representatives of Lotte's technical department said that energy-saving solutions had been taken into consideration from the construction stage. Inverters were installed for all high-capacity equipment, including air conditioners, fans and water pumps, to optimise operations according to actual demand.

For rooftop solar power, the company initially invested in a capacity of 1,496 kWp. From 2025, it continued to expand the system, bringing the total capacity to nearly 2,000 kWp. The electricity generated currently meets around 5-7% of the total electricity demand of the complex, equivalent to monthly electricity savings of between VND 500 million and VND 700 million.

Alongside this, Lotte is implementing energy-efficient operating solutions and making use of solar power at appropriate times to reduce electricity costs. The company also said it stopped providing free plastic bags at Lotte Mart in November 2023, replacing them with alternatives such as paper bags and environmentally friendly materials while encouraging customers to bring their own bags when shopping.

The 2026 Vietnam Industry, Trade and Services Award is a prestigious national-level award organised to select, honour and recognise enterprises with outstanding achievements in the three key sectors of the economy, industry, trade and services and positive contributions to the development of the Vietnamese Industry and Trade sector, based on the award criteria issued under Decision No. 1115/QD-BCT of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.