A seminar took place in Da Nang on Wednesday to discuss a research project about turning the city into an international urban area as well as making strategies to develop its Hi-tech Industrial Park (IP) towards 2030 with a vision towards 2050.  The event was jointly organised by the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) in Viet Nam, the Seoul Institute in South Korea, and the municipal People’s Committee.

Under the project, the emphasis will be on developing Da Nang into a city of 3 million people with abundant intellectual forces, as well as making it into an international city and a Pacific gateway for the South East Asia region.

The project will be implemented in 3 stages.  The 1^st stage will turn Da Nang into a regional economic hub, with a focus on developing the city’s industrial and transport infrastructure, and expanding its consumer markets.  In the 2^nd stage, heed will be paid to establishing a high-speed transport system and developing the local economic sector, logistics services, research activities, and other aspects.  In the last stage, the emphasis will be on setting up an international-standard logistics service system as well as making Da Nang into a city with international-level events and a financial centre.

Also at the event, experiences in urban development from Seoul and other large cities around the world were discussed to introduce suitable models for developing Da Nang’s Hi-tech IP at every stage during its progress.