Hanoi wishes to learn from experience of Italy’s Milan city in urban construction and development for its programme to become a smart city, said Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Duc Chung at a working session with a EU delegation on June 13.

Hanoi will cooperate with Milan in urban development, focusing on high-tech applications and smart city building, under the World City network, according to Ambassador Bruno Angelet, head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam.

The World City network is an initiative launched by the EU aimed at promoting the exchange of experience and the best practice on regional and urban development policies between EU cities and non-EU peers. Chung said Hanoi prioritises transport infrastructure development, high-quality personnel training and administrative reform. IT will be the main tool used in the city construction and development, he said, adding that city is expected to complete a big data system by 2020.

However, the official said, Hanoi wants to partner with small-and medium-sized enterprises of Europe in general and those of Milan in particular as the city still faces difficulties in building a modern information system.

Hanoi stands ready to facilitate European investors and wants to cooperate with European architects in building roads and bridges, and upgrading ancient houses, he noted.

Italian Ambassador Cecilia Piccioni said Milan is the sixth largest city in the EU in terms of network infrastructure. Following President Tran Dai Quang’s visit to Italy in 2016, the World City network is the next step to advance relations between the two countries and their cities, the diplomat said. Italy and the EU in general hope for more cooperation opportunities with Vietnamese enterprises to build smart and modern cities, she noted.

The project aims to promote the sharing of information and experience in building urban and regional development policies among the participating cities. Addressing the launching ceremony, Ambassador Bruno Angelet, Head of the EU Delegation to Vietnam, said both EU and Vietnam have recognised that developing cities is an important factor in promoting sustainable development in the world.

The EU and its member nations pledged to cooperate with partners in the world to create cooperation opportunities among cities and boost experience exchanges as well as urban solutions to address challenges in sustainable development in partner countries. During the event, senior officials from the four cities of Vietnam, Italy and Slovakia discussed initiatives for smart and green cities.

The World Cities project, worth 700,000 EUR is funded by the European Commission’s Department for Regional and Urban Policy (DG REGIO) in Brussels. The project will be implemented in pilot cities with specific short-term cooperation agenda, including urban innovation (smart city), green technologies (energy efficiency, low carbon development). Concrete actions will be decided upon by participating cities and regions with strong support from the project’s staff and in cooperation with DG REGIO and the EU delegations to the participating nations.

The project is expected to promote market opportunities and create jobs along with pursuing sustainable economic development in the cities, thus strengthening bilateral cooperation for mutual benefits. The project has also been carried out in Australia, Indonesia, South Africa and the Republic of Korea.

Source：Vietnam+ , VietNamNet