HCM City (VNA) – An international seminarthemed “Smart city for green growth” was jointly held in Ho Chi Minh City onSeptember 21 by the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences (VASS), theLao Academy of Social and Economic Sciences (LASES), the Royal Academy ofCambodia (RAC) and the Korea Environment Institute (KEI).

VASS President Dr. Phan Chi Hieu stressed that thebuilding of smart urban areas is expected to bolster innovation and start-up,create jobs for young people, narrow income gap and promote digital economy.Besides, smart urban areas also aims to fully tap green energy sources, appliesscience to optimise resources while stepping up sustainable production andconsumption.  

At COP26, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham MinhChinh pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, he said,adding that the government, ministries, sectors and localities have carried outaction programmes on green energy transition, carbon emission reduction andgreen growth.

LASES President Dr Sonethanou Thammavong sharedthat Laos has many projects on developing smart cities, digital transition andsustainable green growth to cope with climate change. Smart urban developmentneeds to focus on human, particularly improving the life quality of people, hestressed.

Meanwhile, RAC President Academician Dr Sok Touchsaid that Cambodia wants to share experiences and learn the best solutions fromcountries in developing smart cities as well as matters related to humanresources in the field.

At the event, experts from Vietnam, Laos,Cambodia and the Republic of Korea discussed issues related to smart citydevelopment in order to cope with climate change through studying nationaltrends, policy mechanisms, economic and social benefits of planning andfinancing of smart cities. They also deliberated opportunities and challengesin collaboration among the nations./.