Skip to main content

Finland to help Vietnam develop smart cities

Speaking at a seminar held in Ho Chi Minh City, Finland's Minister of Economic Affairs Jan Vanpaavuori said that that his country would help Viet Nam achieve ambitious targets for smart and green cities by providing assistance in sustainable urban planning, industrial design, clean technologies and digital services, along with education and training.
October 23, 2014 Read time: 2 mins
Speaking at a seminar held in Ho Chi Minh City, Finland's Minister of Economic Affairs Jan Vanpaavuori said that that his country would help Viet Nam achieve ambitious targets for smart and green cities by providing assistance in sustainable urban planning, industrial design, clean technologies and digital services, along with education and training.

"The fast urbanisation and dynamic modernisation process in Viet Nam has increased demand for energy efficiency, smart transport and modern city infrastructure. This enormous growth potential makes Viet Nam a very interesting partner in the smart city area," he said.

Vanpaavuori said Finland had invested a great deal in demand-driven innovations and new business solutions, assisted by forward-thinking companies. He said the strengths of the Finnish economy and industries complemented Viet Nam's development needs and challenges.

Finnish companies have already contributed to Viet Nam's Green City targets in a number of ventures, including waste-to-energy plants, urban infrastructure and bridge development and the development of Ho Chi Minh City’s new urban area.
Experts estimate that the population of cities will increase from 3.3 billion to nearly 5 billion by 2030.

"With fast-growing and transforming cities, we are faced with challenges like air pollution, traffic problems, poor or non-existing city planning, lack of space and sustainable energy solutions. If not taken care of, at worst this leads to serious socio-economic and environmental problems," Vanpaavuori said.

Le Manh Ha, deputy chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee, said the city wanted to become a smart city by using IT in urban management. "The city wants to access advanced technology from Finland in urban design, traffic management organisation and wastewater management so that we can create sustainable urbanisation and a growth model," he said.

Related Content

  • Verizon plans to launch off-the-shelf telematics
    September 10, 2014
    ‘Bringing connectivity to every vehicle’ was the vision Lowell McAdam (pictured), chairman and CEO of Verizon Communications put before delegates at the second plenary session. He said by 2017 there will be three times more networked devices than people in the world and such connectivity could radically alter transportation. “GE estimates that connected technologies have the potential to reduce the global transportation industry’s demand for fuel by 14%.”
  • Sice systems future proof Fehmarnbelt Tunnel
    April 4, 2023
    Picking up the electro-mechanical contract for the Fehmarnbelt Tunnel was a milestone, according to David Calero Monteagudo, head of global ITS and tunnel business for Spanish company Sice. David Arminas finds out more
  • China may miss electric vehicles goals
    November 5, 2012
    A new report from Bloomberg New Energy Finance suggests that China may miss its ambitious goals concerning alternative energy and clean transportation. The country’s economy is growing quickly and along with this, citizens are finding it possible to afford vehicles of their own. The Chinese government is not inclined to allow reliance on fossil fuels to linger longer than necessary, however, and recently launched an ambitious plan that would promote the adoption of electric vehicles. In July 2012, the Chine
  • Hearing highlights economic importance of transportation system
    February 18, 2013
    The US Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure’s first hearing of the 113th Congress focused on the importance of infrastructure to the US economy and examined the role played by the Federal Government in ensuring safe, efficient, and reliable infrastructure. Chairman Bill Shuster highlighted how the quality of the nation’s infrastructure affects the lives of Americans in many ways on a daily basis, and how the Federal role in ensuring a strong transportation network is firmly rooted in the first day