Hanoi (VNA) – The project "Vietnam – Korea cooperation centre for smart city and construction technology (VKC)" has been launched recently in Hanoi.

The launching ceremony was co-held by the Viet🌱namese Ministry of Construction (MoC) and the Republic of Korea (RoK)'s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport on October 11.

An MoC representative said the project aims to establish a professional centre to promote research and training on smart cities and advanced construction technology in favour of developing smart cities in Vietnam.

He added that the VKC will also gradually specify Vietnam's guidelines and policies to complete legislation on smart cities and enhance the capacity building of local policy-making and monitoring agencies.

To effectively implement the project, D📖r Tran Huu Ha, Director of the MoC's Academy of Managers for Construction and Cities, said that in the coming time, the development of smart cities will focus on building a legal foundation for smart city development; establishing, maintaining and operating a system of multi-sector digitised urban spatial databases; and researching and applying intelligent technologies suitable to the Vietnamese context.

An RoK Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport representative said that with the experience of a country where smart urbanisation has reached 90%, the RoK will actively support and accompany the Vietnamese Ministry of Construction to implement the project effectively. "Hopefully, the two countries will work together to 'draw' a smart city picture in Vietnam, bringing the Vietnamese urban areas to a new level. Furthermore, through the VKC project, RoK urban infrastructure management agencies will also learn from Vietnam's innovative solutions," said he. According to the MoC representative, along with the development and application of information and communication technology, many countries around the world have succeeded in building a smart city model that contributes to improving the quality of life and the service quality of the city governments, reducing energy consumption, and enhancing the effective management of natural resources.

Smart city development is one of the key factors that help Vietnam realise its goal of becoming a modern, high-income country by 2045, he said.

Regarding the smart city development orientation in Vietnam, the Government issued Decision No. 950/QD-TTg dated August 1, 2018, on the project "Developing sustainable smart cities in Vietnam in the 2018 - 2025 period, with orientation to 2030" (also called Project 950).

The project aims to contribute to implementing national socio-economic development strategies and plans through sustainable smart city develo🧸pment.

Statistics from the Ministry of Construction showed that 41 out of the 63 localities nationwide are developing smart cities, 27 of which are building the model at the provincial level. However, according to the ministry, most urban areas across the country are still in the early stages of smart city development. Besides, they are also embarrassed in determining a smart city model suitable for their local features. Therefore, it is vital to learn from the experience of countries that have succeeded in developing smart cities in the world, such as the RoK, the MoC representative noted. In August 2018, the Prime Minister signed a decision approving a national plan for the sustainable development of smart cities for 2018-2025, with a vision towards 2030. By 2025, the first phase of the pilot implementation of smart city development will be carried out, focusing on building and finalising legal corridors and regulations, applying the ICT spatial framework to smart city development in Vietnam, announcing national standards prioritised for the pilot building of smart cities, and developing the urban space data infrastructure. The first-phase pilot is expected to be completed by 2030, towards forming a network of smart cities nationwide. Hanoi, Da Nang city, Ho Chi Minh City, and Can Tho city will be chosen to be the core of smart city networks in the northern, central, southern and Mekong Delta regions, respectively./.