HÀ NỘI — Information technology enterprises from the US will help Việt Nam develop smart cities, US Ambassador to Việt Nam Ted Osius said.

Osius was speaking at conference on developing infrastructure for smart cities in Việt Nam yesterday, with the participation of Nguyễn Thành Hưng, deputy minister of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC) and some 30 enterprises and agencies from both countries.

Upon hearing about the experiences of enterprises planning smart cities in Việt Nam, Ambassador Osius said US enterprises would find out more about specific problems that came up during the process and develop solutions tailored to the country’s needs.

Some areas of the country had started planning and developing proposals to develop smart cities in recent years, Deputy Information Minister Hưng said, including the capital city of Hà Nội, HCM City, the northern provinces of Quảng Ninh and Bắc Ninh and central Thừa Thiên-Huế Province.

He asked Vietnamese agencies and enterprises to provide information for their US counterparts so that they can evaluate the readiness of the provinces for smart cities.

"The two countries need to identify terms and conditions for collaboration and propose co-operation mechanisms to maximize the technological capacity of the US and the potential to develop smart cities of Việt Nam," he said.

Developing smart cities has become a hot topic in Việt Nam and around the world in recent years. ‘Smart city’ refers to the integration of technologies and technological solutions in managing the cities.

Some issues hindering the development of smart cities in Việt Nam include traffic jams, environmental pollution, healthcare and food safety. — VNS