More than 200 Vietnamese and Korean government officials, parliamentarians and enterprises attended CICON HCMC 2023 themed ‘Smart City’ held in HCM City on June 7. — Photo www.sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY — HCM City has many advantages to become a partner with the Republic of Korea (RoK) in smart and creative projects, chairman of the municipal People’s Committee, Phan Văn Mãi, said at CICON HCMC 2023 held in the city on Wednesday (June 7).

The CICON HCMC 2023 under the theme ‘Smart City’, an international conference combining the initials of Creative Urban, Culture, Convergence and Industry, attracted the participants of more than 200 Vietnamese and Korean government officials, parliamentarians and enterprises.

The event was co-organised by the Korea CEO Summit (KCS), HCM City Union of Business Associations (HUBA), Young Business People Association of HCM City (YBA-HCM) and Imex Pan Pacific Group (IPPG).

It focused on the challenges and opportunities for economic and cultural cooperation between the RoK and Việt Nam, and the development prospects for smart city and cultural industry of Việt Nam and HCM City in particular.

Speaking at the event, Mãi said the city has the potential to develop into a smart and sustainable city, with a favourable geographical position, a large population and fast economic growth.

“However, working to turn potential into reality, the city needs the support of international friends in different fields to develop appropriate and effective solutions,” he said.

With a rich experience in building smart cities and the world’s leading corporations in many fields, the RoK is one of the city’s most important partners, he said.

The city aims to build a smart and modern city and Thủ Đức city was selected to deploy initial solutions, through which lessons can be drawn.

Kwon Young Gull, chairman of the National Architectural Policy Committee under the Office of the President of the RoK, and Chairman of the Seoul Design Foundation, said Việt Nam is known as a country with sustainable growth in the region, with the advantages of a young population structure and potential for industrial and high-tech development.

However, like many other countries, Việt Nam is encountering problems of climate change, particularly natural disasters. Quality of life and infrastructure are issues that the country is currently facing, especially in big cities such as Hà Nội and HCM City.

“Building a smart city does not stop at building infrastructure, but focusing on businesses that are creative and have advanced science and technology, and encouraging the connection between businesses and individuals in the public and private sectors to create synchronisation and effectively promote technological achievements,” he said.

Therefore, Việt Nam needs to develop a specific strategy to synchronously deploy solutions for planning, appearance design, and urban quality similar to the way the RoK did when building Seoul into a smart city, he said.

HCM City as well as other big cities such as Hà Nội and Đà Nẵng need to join urban alliances in the region so that they can share and learn experiences in designing and implementing smart urban models, he added.

CICON HCMC 2023 was hosted to celebrate the 31st anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties between Việt Nam and RoK (1992-2023)

The event offered an important opportunity for enterprises and State agencies of the two sides to discuss and share mutually beneficial cooperation projects bringing immediate and long-term common prosperity to both sides in the sectors of high technology and culture.

It also created a good chance for the city to learn about the RoK’s experiences and successes to create favorable conditions for businesses of the two sides to meet and exchange mutually beneficial cooperative programmes in the coming time.

The event was divided into three sections, including topics related to smart urban development, environment (urban industry), film, cuisine, fashion (cultural industry), and a series of activities aimed at promoting bilateral friendly relations (convergence industry).

The convergence industry section focused its discussions on a variety of topics that many businesses and young entrepreneurs are interested in, such as Blockchain technology, metaverse virtual space technology, NFT (Non-fungible token) digital products, and Web 3.0 (the upcoming third generation of the Internet).

The event was held for the first time in Seoul in 2012, followed by Xi’an and Qingdao of China, Ulaanbaatar of Mongolia, and most recently, the capital city Hà Nội in 2022. — VNS