HCM City, RoK’s Daegu look to bolster cooperation

Chairman of HCM City People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong (Photo: VNA)

HCM City attaches great importance to cooperation with and support from foreign partners, including those from the Republic of Korea (RoK), in the process of becoming a financial, economic, and technological centre, Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Thanh Phong has said.

During an online working session with the Mayor of Daegu city in the RoK, Kwon Young-jin, on September 14, Phong congratulated the city on being recognised as a smart city and expressed a hope that it will expand cooperation and share its experience with HCM City in this regard, especially in developing information infrastructure, databases, and cyber security.

HCM City is also ready to cooperate with Daegu in areas where the latter possesses strengths, such as water treatment and tourism, he added.

He spoke of the effective measures adopted by HCM City to contain the spread of COVID-19 and its efforts to recover economic growth.

Noting proposals from the mayor, Phong said he will soon instruct relevant agencies to conduct online exchanges and cement cooperative programmes between the two sides, which will be implemented when the pandemic is under control.

HCM City will ask the Ministry of Transport to pay due regard to a proposal from the mayor to open a direct air route between Daegu and Vietnam’s southern economic hub, Phong said, while expressing his belief that with efforts and determination from both sides the relationship will be stronger in the time to come.

For his part, Mayor Kwon affirmed that Daegu is willing to share its experience and hopes to contribute to and support smart city development in HCM City.

He thanked HCM City leaders for their interest in supporting and promoting cooperation between the two localities, saying that given the pandemic, online meeting and exchange activities are key channels to call for investment and international cooperation.

He suggested the two cities organise online meetings on specific cooperation activities for deployment as soon as restrictions are removed.

Kwon committed to promoting cooperation programmes with HCM City in the fields of health and tourism, and to foster investment cooperation in the areas of water treatment immediately after the pandemic is controlled.