On Thursday, representatives from the Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), plus the authorities of Da Nang and the provinces of Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam, together inked a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on implementing a smart urban valley programme in Central Viet Nam.

Representatives from KOICA, Da Nang, and the provinces of Thua Thien Hue and Quang Nam at the signing ceremony

Under the MoU, KOICA will give active support for Thua Thien Hue Province to build its cultural and tourism infrastructure, for Da Nang to carry out its natural disaster mitigation projects, and for Quang Nam Province to construct its urban service infrastructure and its administrative database systems towards a smart city in Tam Ky City.

The cooperative programme will be implemented during the 2020-2025 period.

Notably, KOICA also committed to appealing for even more South Korean partners to invest and monitor the implementation of smart urban projects in the 3 localities in a synchronous and efficient manner.

In his remarks at the signing ceremony, Da Nang People’s Committee Chairman Huynh Duc Tho said over the past years Da Nang has prioritised to establish the bilateral cooperative relations with some of South Korean localities.

In particular, since the former Quang Nam-Da Nang Province was officially divided into the 2 administrative divisions of Quang Nam Province and Da Nang City, the city has set up the bilateral cooperation relations with Masan City (later called Changwon City).

Then, the city has established friendly and cooperative relations with the cities of Daegu, Hwaseong, Seoul, and Gyeongsan.

Chairman Tho expressed his hope that the signing of the MOU would be a solid foundation for his city and KOICA to promote the construction of the Integrated Centre for Controlling Green and Smart Urban Resilience (ENSURE Centre) in the city soon.

Besides, the MoU will lay a foundation for KOICA and these Vietnamese localities to implement inter-regional smart projects, thereby establishing the smart urban valley in the future.