Local and foreign representatives congregated at a conference in the southern province of Dong Nai on November 21 to share experience in building green and civilised urban areas.

The event highlighted the global cooperation in the field that has created a breakthrough in urban management and exploration of various metropolitan development models for each participating country.

General Secretary of the Association of Cities of Vietnam (ACVN) Vu Thi Vinh particularly mentioned major joint projects with Canadian cities in the local socio-economic development scheme that have sparked success in the Vietnamese localities of Thai Nguyen, Ha Tinh and Soc Trang.

While the northern province of Thai Nguyen focuses on community-based tourism development in line with building new style rural areas, the city of Soc Trang plans to increase the value of local farm produce and popularise small and medium-sized (SMEs) businesses, trade brands and the central province of Ha Tinh aims to encourage female involvement in local socio-economic development.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has already approved a list of technical assistance projects with the aim of upgrading 20 Vietnamese small and medium-sized cities, Vinh said.

The country is also benefiting from a number of pilot projects on local administration and housing funded by foreign organisations, such as the European Union (EU) and the German Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS) fund.

Participants agreed that urban areas should promote traditional, historical and cultural values to build and develop their trade names, which aim to attract investment and increase competitiveness.-VNA