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T Ciputra Adigraha, a subsidiary of property developer PT Ciputra Property Tbk, agreed to lease its entire Ciputra World mall in West Jakarta to PT Lotte Shopping Plaza Indonesia, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Lotte Shopping Company, for 20 years.

The 130,000-square-meter mall, which Lotte Shopping Plaza Indonesia will officially start operating commercially in the second quarter of 2012, is part of the Ciputra World super block being constructed along Jl. Prof. Dr Satrio.

“We are glad to have the chance to establish our first Lotte Department Store in Indonesia at the Ciputra World mall, one of the best areas for business,” Lotte Shopping Plaza Indonesia president director Suh Chang-suk said in a statement.

In addition to the department store and Lotte Group’s other retail outlets in the country, he said, “We will also collaborate with other retail companies in Indonesia to offer a new paradigm and experience of shopping for customers in Jakarta.”

“Indonesia is a promising market for our retail business because of its growing economy,” Lotte Shopping Company director Park Keum-soo said.

Ciputra Group president director Candra Ciputra welcomed the establishment of Lotte Group’s subsidiary at Ciputra’s business area because of its prominence in the retail business.

“Lotte’s excellence in serving the high-end market suits Ciputra World,” he said adding that the presence of a Lotte department store would make the mall an important shopping destination.

The biggest retail company in South Korea, Lotte Group operates in nine countries including South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, China, Russia and Indonesia. Lotte’s businesses cover retail, food and drink, tourism, petrochemical industry, construction and manufacturing.

In the retail industry, Lotte Group manages Lotte Department Store, Lotte Mart, Lotte Super, Lotte Duty Free Store and Lotte Home Shopping.

Lotte Group entered the Indonesian market after acquiring Dutch wholesaler Makro in 2008, which it later transformed into the rapidly developing hypermarket Lotte Mart.

Lotte Mart non-food commercial director Andre Gunawan told The Jakarta Post via telephone that his company currently had three retail outlets, two in Jakarta and one in Bandung.

“We are going to open a new retail outlet in Makassar, South Sulawesi, at the end of this month,” he said.

Gunawan added that Lotte Mart also operated 19 wholesalers it had acquired from Makro in major cities in Indonesia: Bandung, Banjarmasin, Denpasar, Yogyakarta, Jakarta, Makassar, Medan, Palembang, Pekanbaru and Surabaya.

“The company also has plans for the future, including the acquisition of other companies in Indonesia,” Gunawan said, but did not disclose details. (msa)