The southern province of Binh Duong is developing plans to turn the locality into a smart city, heard a summit on smart city development held on March 28 by the Binh Duong provincial People's Committee in collaboration with the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Ho Chi Minh City and the Becamex Corporation.

Chairman Tran Thanh Liem of the Binh Duong People's Committee said that the locality has recorded rapid urbanisation after nearly 20 years of focusing on industrial development as its key policy.

To date, the province has permanently turned agricultural land into industrial parks and urban residential areas with synchronised infrastructure.

Liem added that the conference has great significance, providing both a theoretical and practical basis to determine the harmonious relationship between the State, entrepreneurs and scientists in sustainable urban construction, thereby facilitating Binh Duong in planning preferential policies for urban management, and gradually turning the province into a smart and centrally-run city by 2020.

Delegates at the event exchanged construction solutions and smart city development to improve the quality of life for citizens and enhance communication and interaction between citizens and local government.

In particular, representatives from the Netherlands’ Eindhoven city with over 20 years experiencing in developing smart cities shared their knowledge and expertise on the issue to support Binh Duong’s urban development.

General Director of Becamex Investment and Industrial Development Corporation (Becamex IDC) Nguyen Van Hung said that in July 2015 a group of Dutch experts arrived in Vietnam to help Binh Duong build plans for a modern industrial city based on Eindhoven’s experience - one of the world’s most intelligent communities.

Currently, Becamex is building a project that involves entrepreneurs, the business community, and institutes and research organisations on smart city development. The project maps out four areas for the Binh Duong smart city during the 2016- 2021 period - people, technology, business community and infrastructure, and investment climate. It is scheduled to be submitted to the provincial authorities for consideration and for consultation from experts and local residents.

As part of the event, an exhibition displayed solutions and technological innovations for smart cities and a programming contest to create applications for smart cities were held.

Source: Nhan dan