On Tuesday, the Da Nang Department of Transport and South Korea’s Seoul Metro Corporation entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in urban railway development and public transport management. 

The signing ceremony in progress

The signing was witnessed by municipal People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho and the Chairman and CEO of Seoul Metro, Mr Kim Tae-ho.

Under the agreement, Seoul Metro will assist Da Nang to create a master plan to develop the city’s urban railways, conduct related pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, as well as to design and deploy the city’s railway projects.  Included are subway, tramway and metro systems for the city’s internal traffic in the coming years. 

Furthermore, this South Korean firm will help the city do its maintenance work, and effectively implement the Knowledge Sharing Programme (KSP) in the locality.

Addressing the signing ceremony, Chairman Tho highly spoke of the cooperation agreement mentioned above. 

The municipal government leader also affirmed that, as the driving force for ensuring the growth of the whole central region and highlands, Da Nang is striving to reach its key target of becoming a smart city with sustainable development in the near future.

He also highly hailed the effective cooperation in culture, economy and social affairs between Da Nang and Seoul, and between the two countries as a whole.

The Director of the municipal Transport Department, Mr Le Van Trung, said urban railway, subway and tramway systems would help to satisfy the transit needs of the rapidly urbanising city in the years ahead. 

In particular, the development of mass public transit aims to reduce carbon emissions and traffic congestion as well in the tourism hub.

In reply, Chairman and CEO of Seoul Metro Kim Tae-ho noted that the development of an urban railway system would help to uphold Da Nang’s position as a favourite destination in Central Viet Nam.  Moreover, it will help to ensure a closer connection with the East-West Economic Corridor (EWEC) which links Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Viet Nam.

Seoul Metro was a public corporation owned by Seoul Metropolitan Government, and one of the major operators of Seoul Metropolitan Subway with Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation and Korail. 

An urban rail system developed by Seoul Metro in South Korea provides major daily transport for 6 million commuters in total.