The Japanese government will set up a fund worth 250 billion JPY (some 2.4 billion USD) to support Japanese companies' "smart-city" projects and to help further decarbonisation measures in Vietnam and other Southeast Asian nations (Illustrative photo: VNA)

The fund will consist of some 50 billionJPY from the Japan Overseas Infrastructure Investment Corporation for Transportand Urban Development (JOIN), a government fund for infrastructure development,and a line of credit worth 200 billion JPY from the Japan Bank forInternational Cooperation (JBIC).

The government will encourage Japanesecompanies to participate in projects in 26 cities in 10 member countries of theAssociation of Southeast Asian Nations, including Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City,Jakarta, Bangkok, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

Japan will ask 26 cities to present plansfor developing smart cities by the end of this year and is planning to select eligibleprojects by spring. The government expects Japanese companies to work out basicplans for the selected cities and conduct feasibility studies.

To promote smart-city projects, JOIN isconsidering measures such as the formation of joint ventures with Japanese andlocal companies. JBIC will extend the credit line to environmental programmessuch as those for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, increasing the use ofrenewable energy and preventing air and water pollution.

According to the Japanese government, smart-city plans are increasing in ASEAN members. Among Japanese companies,Tokyu is involved in a development project in Vietnam’s Binh Duong province,while a consortium of companies based in Yokohama has participated in a projectin the Thai province of Chonburi.

Trading houses Sojitz and Mitsubishi areseparately promoting the development of smart cities near Jakarta, Indonesia./.VNA

Digital technology applied to all fields in smart cities

Smart City Summit 2020, the fourth conference discussing the development of smart urban areas, was held several days ago with 1,000 participants on online platforms from 27 points throughout the country.

Vietnam needs better smart city management, implementation

Vietnam's urban areas have been developing rapidly with the urbanization rate increasing from 19.6 percent (629 urban areas in 2009) to about 39.2 percent (835 in December 2019).