HÀ NỘI — The smart city project along the Nhật Tân-Nội Bài route with investment equal to US$4 billion is expected to begin construction in the first quarter of next year.

This information was disclosed at a meeting on Thursday between Chairman of Hà Nội People’s Committee Nguyễn Đức Chung, President-cum-CEO of Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation Kuniharu Nakamura and Chairwoman of BRG Group Nguyễn Thị Nga to discuss the smart city project in Đông Anh District.

In June, Hà Nội’s People’s Committee, BRG Group and Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation Group signed a co-operation agreement to develop the smart city project in the presence of Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc during his official visit to Japan.

According to Nakamura, Sumitomo Corporation regarded the smart city project in Hà Nội as a huge project and was seeking prestigious partners with capacity, specialising in science and technology, to participate in implementing this project.

The project involved building a smart city with modern transport system using the latest technologies, he stressed.

Nga said with total investment of $4.138 billion, the smart city project would cover 272ha.

Implementation of the project would be divided into five phases.

In the first phase, Sumitomo-BRG joint venture would invest more than $1 billion to develop infrastructure and linkage for the project.

The smart city’s core would be metro line No 2, starting from Trần Hưng Đạo Street.

A 1/500-scale plan had been developed, however, consultant unit Nikken Sekkei was reviewing the detailed plan for the first phase, according to Nga.

Nga said the detailed plan would be submitted to the municipal authorities for approval of the investment policy this month.

The project is expected to start construction in the first quarter of 2018, Nga said.

At the meeting, Chung said Hà Nội would create the most favourable conditions for the implementation of the project at the earliest, and said it expected the project’s developer would implement the project following commitments. — VNS