Under the wager, Korean-owned Keangnam–Vina Company will complete the structural work on the tower, including two 48-story buildings and one 70-story building, by October, 2010.

If it fails, the Hanoi National Treasury will sell 12 of its apartments costing $5.96 million and grant the proceeds to charity, according a communiqué sent to several news agencies on Thursday.

On Thursday morning, the local Cuu chien binh Viet Nam (Vietnam Veterans) newspaper issued an open letter by several veterans, construction experts and engineers claiming that the investor cannot finish the tower by 2010 as committed.

They will give VND100 billion to the company for “its achievement in building Vietnam’s tallest tower within a record time”, the letter said.

Both the parties say they will donate the proceeds to charity, said the newspaper’s editor-in-chief Tran Nhung.

Reported by Truong Dinh