At the meeting between HCM City authorities and European businesses

At a meetingwith the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) on July 11, Tuyensaid the city is facing pressing issues such as flooding, traffic jam, andenvironmental pollution.
 
He said to solve the aforesaid problems and strivefor sustainable development, HCM City is carrying out a project to turn into asmart city, including the development of technology infrastructure.

According to the official, the southern economichub has been building four pillars of the project namely a shared database andopen data ecosystem; a smart urban operation centre; a centre for simulatingand forecasting socio-economic development strategies; and an informationsecurity centre, he said.

The city also plans to build a modern financialcentre and an innovative urban area in District 2, District 9 and Thu Ducdistrict, he added.

As European firms have invested in many smartcity projects, HCM City hope to cooperate with and learn experience fromEuropean firms in these fields, the official said.

He affirmed that the city administration willcreate the optimal conditions for the businesses to cooperate and makeinvestment in the city.

Nicolas Audier, Chairman of EuroCham in Vietnam,said the signing of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) will open upopportunities for the expansion of bilateral trade connections.

The deal is expected to create a wave ofinvestment from Europe into Vietnam and vice versa, he added.

He expressed his belief that there will be aflow of high-quality investment from European firms into Vietnam and HCM Citywith the transfer of new cutting-edge technologies.

The Chairman said EuroCham wants to develop thepublic-private-partnership (PPP) model in Vietnam to address urban problems.

During the meeting, the two sides also exchangedopinions on matters related to the EVFTA, focusing on tax and customs policies,transportation and logistics, trade facilitation, tracking of food origin,agriculture, and green energy.-VNA