Siemens keen to drive transportation projects

What are your strategies in Vietnam after launching the new infrastructure and cities sector?

The new sector is about pooling Siemens’ global expertise and activities to offer cities technical solutions for sustainable mobility, environmental protection and energy savings. Urbanisation is taking place at a very fast speed in Vietnam thus making existing cities become bigger while more and more new cities are formed.

However, city infrastructure has not caught up with the pace of urban development, especially in big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. As a consequence, traffic is getting worse while the problem of power shortage is also getting more serious.

Siemens, with this restructuring, is committed to supporting the sustainable urban development of Vietnam. Siemens has identified Vietnam as its emerging market and is working closely with leaders of key ministries and customers to develop a business strategy that is feasible and mutually beneficial to both parties.

Urban infrastructure in Vietnam is in the development phase and there are many problems. In which areas can Siemens provide solutions and which projects can Siemens participate in?

I can name some of our most prominent projects in Vietnam to date. In power distribution, Siemens supplied our most advanced medium voltage gas-insulated switchgear technology (GIS) to the Vietnam’s Ministry of Public Security. In mobility, we designed and supplied 16 diesel-electric AC-AC locomotives to Vietnam Railways.

We were the suppliers of the airfield lighting system to Noi Bai airport in Hanoi and Lien Khuong airport in Lam Dong province, as well as of the material handling system to Tan Son Nhat airport in Ho Chi Minh City. Siemens Apogee Building Management System and Algorex Fire Alarm Systems have been installed in Bitexco - the tallest financial tower in Ho Chi Minh City and – most recently – in Hanoi Museum.

Looking forward, increasing population in cities means mobility solutions are needed to cope with the challenge of transportation and  Siemens’ mass transit systems such as metro systems are the best solutions to address the growing demand for transportation in densely populated cities like Ho Chi Minh City. We are ready to contribute to the implementation of Ho Chi Minh City metro line 2. Besides, it is also our strong wish to assist big cities in Vietnam to address traffic problems with our Intelligent Traffic Management System.

Are public-private partnership (PPP) projects in Vietnam of interest to Siemens? And what should the Vietnamese government do to get Siemens on board?

Siemens is very interested in the PPP model since some of our most important customers are from this public sector while we see a lot of potential in the private sector. As I already mentioned above, Siemens has identified Vietnam as an emerging market and is focusing on enhancing our presence here.

To do this and to best support the sustainable economic development of Vietnam in parallel, we would highly appreciate the Vietnamese government’s incentives in creating and promoting a fair and transparent business environment. We would like to see more good initiatives in place such as Project 30.

How about the progress of Siemens’ building projects?

According to result of the Asian Green City Index 2010 – a study commissioned by Siemens and performed by the independent Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) – Hanoi ranks well below average in terms of building policy. In particular, city authorities have yet to devise and enforce a code for the eco-efficiency of new buildings, and the city does not enforce green standards on public buildings. But this is a common problem in most, if not all of the cities in Vietnam.

We have participated successfully in many building projects in Vietnam including the ones I mentioned above and many more such as My Dinh National Stadium in Hanoi, Vinpearl Land in Danang and the Indochina Plaza Hanoi projects. With these successful projects, we are ready to support the vigorous boom of this industry in Vietnam and to assist city authorities to fulfil their mega plans for green buildings.