Participation of private sector encouraged

According to Max Lua - CEO of Singapore Contec Company, Vietnam is one of the fastest growing countries in Southeast Asia in the past seven to eight years. Vietnam has a good infrastructure system for smart urban development, on which it has become a destination for foreign investment over the past five years.

Vietnam has a good infrastructure system for smart urban development

“We can see a rapid and constant change in Vietnam. Smart infrastructure works such as urban railway projects have been constructed synchronously, contributing to connecting people and businesses.

To realize the goal of smart cities, Vietnam needs to focus on strengthening financial and logistics activities, as they are key factors in socio-economic development and foreign investment attraction. As long as Vietnam still holds advantages in finance and logistics, you will soon surpass other countries in the region.

Technology products and solutions, especially 5G technology, will play a decisive role in building smart cities, especially in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Kok Chin Tay - President of Smart Cities Network - said that, to build a smart city, building a data system is very important because this is a factor that supports state agencies to operate and make better decisions, identify and respond to requests of citizens.

Investors in Singapore have done many investment projects in Vietnam. They know that the Vietnamese government is taking the right steps. “With a population of nearly 100 million, Vietnam needs to encourage innovation and improve the quality of the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model. I hope that the government will build a model to encourage the participation of the private sector in smart city development,” Kok Chin Tay recommended.

Perspective view of the North Hanoi smart city project

Smart use of financial resources

As for digital transformation, Kapil Chaudhery, Director of Spatial Decision Vietnam, said digital transformation should be carried out in turn in each area of the city, which will help residents participate more in the process of building smart urban areas.

Spatial Decision Vietnam is running a community project called Sponge Gardens in major cities of India. Actually, Spatial Decision Vietnam hopes Hanoi will have similar projects so that the local residents can have private, green, natural spaces in a smart city. This will be the foundation for further breakthroughs in the future.

The concept of “Smart cities” is illustrated by the smart use of financial and environmental resources, as well as by good communication between people instead of just technology and techniques. If people feel happy with their quality of life, this will improve labor productivity and increasingly raise the living standard.

“Previously, we planned to launch smart urban projects in three major cities of Vietnam. However, the projects were delayed due to financial problems and the COVID-19 pandemic. We will restart these projects and call for the participation of private investors. We expect that projects implemented in the PPP model will start soon and contribute to building a smart city in Hanoi,” Kapil Chaudhery shared.