Smart Urban Development Crucial for Vietnam's Digital Economy

The Deputy Prime Minister of Vietnam, Nguyen Chi Dung, emphasized the importance of smart urban development in advancing the digital and urban economy. At a meeting of the inter-agency task force for coordinating smart city construction and development, he acknowledged that smart urban development is an inevitable trend for countries seeking sustainable growth and improved quality of life. The Deputy PM highlighted the potential of the digital economy to boost national growth and strengthen urban governance, opining that proper planning and integration of IT and digital transformation can turn the urban economy into a strong driver of economic development.

Key Takeaways:

• The formation of the inter-agency task force is timely and crucial in advancing institutional development and resolving arising challenges in implementing pilot smart urban projects.
• The task force will coordinate and guide eligible localities in implementing smart city development plans in line with the established roadmap, supervise project implementation, and report to the Prime Minister on arising challenges and proposed solutions.
• Ministries, agencies, and localities are required to develop their action plans based on assigned functions and responsibilities and submit them to the task force before July 25.
• The Ministry of Construction is tasked with working with the Ministry of Science and Technology to prepare for the final evaluation of the Via ++T Nam's sustainable smart urban development project for 2018-2025 (Project 950) by the end of this month.
• The Deputy PM called for a clear roadmap to promote smart city-related industries to boost domestic production and reduce reliance on imports.
• Public-private partnerships are seen as crucial in smart urban development, and the Deputy PM proposed selecting several pilot communes or wards to establish a clear investment roadmap and avoid a "scattered and overlapping" approach.

Statistics:

• The task force will report to the Prime Minister on arising challenges and propose solutions (no specific statistics mentioned).
• The Ministries and localities have until July 25th to develop and submit their action plans to the task force (no statistics mentioned).
• The Ministry of Construction is tasked with preparing for the final evaluation of Project 950 by the end of this month (no statistics mentioned).
• The Deputy PM aims to reduce reliance on imports and boost domestic production in smart city-related industries, but no specific statistics or targets are mentioned.

Sources:

• The meeting of the inter-agency task force for coordinating smart city construction and development in Ha Na tmi on Wednesday.
• Project 950: Via ++T Nam's sustainable smart urban development project for 2018-2025 with a vision to 2030.
• The Government of Vietnam's draft decree on smart city development.