The signing ceremony, held in Ho Chi Minh City, was attended by Vice Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee Tran Vinh Tuyen and UK Minister of State for Asia and the Pacific Mark Field.
Under the MoU, the two sides will coordinate in launching a project to apply smart tickets in public transportation vehicles in the city and develop a geographical information system for the drainage network of the city.
At a meeting with the UK official prior to the signing, Tuyen thanked the UK Consulate General in the city for promoting the partnership between the city and the UK, especially in cooperation programmes supported by the UK’s Commonwealth Fund.
He said that Ho Chi Minh City is calling for investment in sub-projects of a project to develop smart city, and hopes to gather financial support and consultations from the UK side.
The city is also implementing technological solution packages to deal with urgent matters in transport, health care, and urban environment, he said, expressing his hope to learn from the UK’s experience in the fields.
Lauding education and training development of the UK, the city official proposed that Field help encourage UK universities to collaborate with their peers in the city and increase scholarships for students from Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City in particular.
For his part, Field showed his impression at the development of the city, reaffirming the UK Government’s wish to strengthen affiliation with Vietnam and Ho Chi Minh City, especially in trade, investment and people-to-people exchange.
He held that the British Business Group in Vietnam based in Ho Chi Minh City is a good condition for the UK and the city to promote their bilateral trade and investment ties.
Congratulating the city on finishing the first phase of the smart city project, he pledged that the UK will continue to work with the city in the field, especially in technological solutions to responding to flooding and smart urban transportation.
He expressed his hope that HCM City will make it easy for the British Business Group in Vietnam to set up a centre to support small- and medium-sized enterprises and startup firms of the UK to invest in the city.
