The Sixth Annual Meeting of the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) opens in Bali, Indonesia, July 12. (Photo: asean.org) Jakarta (VNA) - The Sixth Annual Meeting of the ASEAN Smart Cities Network (ASCN) opened in Bali, Indonesia, on July 12 with the participation of representatives of national and local governments across the region.
Representatives from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade; Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism; the Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport; and the Seoul National University attended the meeting to exchange views on how to enhance existing cooperation and catalyse new partnerships.
Opening the event, Indonesian Minister of Home Affairs Muhammad Tito Karnavian mentioned that the governments need to continue pushing the implementation of Smart Cities by building a strong foundation to face the urbanisation challenges, and capacity to adapt to the industrial revolution.
In his pre-recorded speech, Secretary-General of ASEAN Dr Kao Kim Hourn commended Indonesia’s unwavering commitment to the development of smart and sustainable cities in the region.
He highlighted three key points to further ASEAN’s efforts in promoting smart and sustainable cities, namely sharing knowledge and learnings within and between cities and with national governments, strengthening cooperation in evidence-based city planning and management to realise a more liveable urban environment in ASEAN, and promoting more public-private-people partnerships to seize smart city opportunities.
Dr. Safrizal ZA, Director General of Regional Administration of Indonesia’s Ministry of Home Affairs, held that collaboration in the ASEAN Smart Cities Network can address the pressing challenges faced by cities and explore innovative solutions to foster sustainable urban development.
At the two-day meetings, participants have discussed the implementation of ASCN smart city projects, development of ASEAN smart city investment toolkit, and expansion of ASCN membership./.
