At a seminar held by the Ministry of Construction and the Dutch Embassy in Vietnam, the two countries agreed to promote the exchange of information, know-how, and expertise in the concerned fields on the basis of mutual respect, equality and mutual benefit.
The Netherlands will share its successful stories in smart city development with Vietnam
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They will work together to form research or startup projects and bolster connections with research institutes or universities in both nations.
Addressing the seminar, Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Dinh Toan said that Vietnam is witnessing rapid urbanization at a rate of 37.5 percent nationwide. Urbanization has contributed a significant part to Vietnam’s successful socio-economic development in recent years, contributing 70 percent of the national GDP.
However, rapid urbanization also poses challenges for major cities in solving tasks on urban management amidst effectively using infrastructure and land resources and the mitigation of negative impacts on the environment. In such a context, according to Toan, IT application and the successful building of smart cities would create a breakthrough for urban development in Vietnam.
The Ministry of Information and Communication has been working with the Ministry of Construction to build a set of indicators for smart cities including mechanisms, policies and guidelines for their development.
Highlighting the important cooperation between the two countries in various fields, particularly urban management and smart city construction, he expressed his wish to receive practical suggestion from the Dutch side in the field to support Vietnam in developing a suitable smart city model for its conditions.
According to Dutch Ambassador to Vietnam Nienke Trooster, up to 70 percent of the world’s popularization will live in urban areas by 2050, placing a burden on infrastructure, land and housing fund.
This global trend also applies to Vietnam and can be clearly observed. Vietnam has a large population of 90 million, a young resourceful workforce and is growing at a fast pace. It is also one of the countries most affected by climate change, the Dutch Ambassador said.
Therefore, to ensure that society can cope with future challenges and accommodate growth, to make sure there will be enough work and the right skills are being equipped to the workforce, while still strengthening economic growth, it is recommended for Vietnam to not only plan ahead but also plan smarter.
The Dutch Ambassador shared her country’s experience of having many municipalities develop into smart cities. The country is known for succeeding with a joint approach where cities, companies, the research sector and civil society work together to exchange come up with a strategy together.
“We don’t know exactly what the city of the future will look like. But we do know that certain transitions will definitely take place, like the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and a rise in self-driving cars,” she said, adding that resilience also means that a city can accommodate short term upheavals, like a flood. Smart cities offer an architecture for structuring procedures in such a way that cities will be resilient enough to handle all those future developments.
At the event, Smart Cities Consortium NL of the Netherlands and the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction’s Urban Development Agency signed a Letter of Intent, to lay the foundation for future cooperation between the Netherlands and Vietnam on smart cities.
