Mr Tuyen Bui, Technical Director and Senior Advisor of international engineering advisory company Aurecon Vietnam, said: “Sustainable smart city initiatives, which aim to establish a healthy balance between economic, social, and environmental factors, will be an important criterion for new FDI investments.”
“Robust digital infrastructure is particularly important for smart cities to function. That means a focus on solutions such as wireless networks, smart water and energy management, wastewater recycling, intelligent transport system, automated parking management, among others,” Mr Tuyen said.
He underscored that while doing so, “Vietnamese cities should follow international standards and frameworks for smart city development.”
Cluster President of Schneider Electric Vietnam and Cambodia Dong Mai Lam highlighted that sustainable smart cities will have to be more digital and more electric.
“The technology that we need to implement three times faster needs to be directed in three simple directions: electrification – because this is the only way to decarbonise; decarbonisation of electricity production; and efficiency. These three action areas have the potential to reduce emissions in line with what we need to do to transition our energy system and be back to the 1.5 degree trajectory [of global temperature rise],” Mr Lam said.
“Both corporate and individual customers have become more aware of the dimensions of sustainability which have to become carbon neutral and trend to net-zero. And so we must bring disruptive technologies to make products and systems more sustainable and green premium,” he added.
Dr Erhan Atay from RMIT University observed that Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, Da Nang, Nha Trang and Binh Duong are carrying out administrative reforms to initiate and accelerate smart city projects to attract more foreign investors.
“Vietnam should accelerate its sustainable smart city investments to maintain its high growth rates in the last 30 years, be a centre of attraction for foreign investors, and, above all, offer a high quality of life to its residents,” Dr Atay concluded.
Story: Ngoc Hoang