In 2012, the Vietnamese government expressed that Hanoi will lead the country to become the first Smart City in Vietnam. The Smart City project scheme will be able to place Hanoi, which currently leads in modern and urbanizing development, onto the global platform by 2020 as part of Vietnam’s Industry 4.0 initiative, focusing on high technology manufacturing development.

The communist Vietnam has always placed vision onto the 3000 km squared city of Hanoi. With a population of 76.5 million under rapid development, the city is a modern technology hub for its young workforce. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc requests works by the government to attract and increase a professional work force and businesses into Hanoi to parallel the objectives in the Industry 4.0 initiative to create a modern, lively and international image.

Hanoi’s Ministry of Communication Nyguen reveals that Hanoi’s Smart City development will be processed in three phases. Hanoi will enter the first phase of development from now until 2020, to establish a foundation as a Smart City. The second phase from 2021 to 2025 will complete smart systems across the city and attract international corporates and FDI to create a technology-based economy. The third phase to take place after 2025 will place Hanoi onto the global platform as a smart city.

The Smart City development will bring a number of benefits to Hanoi, including an improved government and political system to decrease the cost in managing corporates by providing a customer and citizen- based service system. Nyguyen proposes that Hanoi will become the hub of smart technology and systems in Southeast Asia. In 2018, Hanoi has already undergone a number of smart technology developments powered by foreign FDI inflow. In the coming years, it will further establish its smart traffic and tourism systems to compromise its Smart City development scheme.

Besides the Smart Traffic and Tourism systems, the Hanoi government will begin its work on Smart Sustainability, Smart Education and Smart Healthcare systems to create an improved living environment for its inhabitants and tourists.