The Office of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and the Consulate General of the UK in the city on January 3 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on cooperation in implementing the future global city programme, which aims to turn the city into a smart city, in the 2019-2022 period.
HCM City (VNA) – The Office ofthe People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City and the Consulate General of the UKin the city on January 3 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) oncooperation in implementing the future global city programme, which aims toturn the city into a smart city, in the 2019-2022 period.
The signing ceremony, held in Ho Chi MinhCity, was attended by Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Tran VinhTuyen and UK Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field.
Under the MoU, the two sides will coordinatein launching a project to apply smart tickets in public transportation vehiclesin the city and develop a geographical information system for the drainage networkof the city.
At a meeting with the UK official prior tothe signing, Tuyen thanked the UK Consulate General in the city for promotingthe partnership between the city and the UK, especially in cooperationprogrammes supported by the UK’s Commonwealth Fund.
He said that Ho Chi Minh City is calling forinvestment in sub-projects of a project to develop smart city, and hopes togather financial support and consultations from the UK side.
The city is also implementing technologicalsolution packages to deal with urgent matters in transport, health care, andurban environment, he said, expressing his hope to learn from the UK’sexperience in the fields.
Lauding education and training developmentof the UK, the city official proposed that Field help encourage UK universitiesto collaborate with their peers in the city and increase scholarships forstudents from Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.
For his part, Field showed his impression atthe development of the city, reaffirming the UK Government’s wish to strengthenaffiliation with Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City, especially in trade, investmentand people-to-people exchange.
He held that the British Business Group inVietnam based in Ho Chi Minh City is a good condition for the UK and the cityto promote their bilateral trade and investment ties.
Congratulating the city on finishing thefirst phase of the smart city project, he pledged that the UK will continue towork with the city in the field, especially in technological solutions toresponding to flooding and smart urban transportation.
He expressed his hope that HCM City will makeit easy for the British Business Group in Vietnam to set up a centre to supportsmall- and medium-sized enterprises and startup firms of the UK to invest inthe city.-VNA
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At the signing ceremony (Photo: VNA) 
