Da Lat to be developed into smart city

Lam Dong (VNA) – The Central Highlands province of Lam Dong plans to build Da Lat into a smart city, and is currently seeking the Government’s assistance in the work.

This cause was among the issues brought up at a working session between local authorities and Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam in the province on December 20.

Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Doan Van Viet said that in 2019, Lam Dong will invest all efforts into the plan to develop a smart Da Lat city, focusing on smart tourism, smart agriculture, and smart administrative management.

The province proposed that the Government provide technical support for it to realise this plan.

Deputy PM Dam said Lam Dong should first create an information-sharing mechanism among its agencies, sectors, and localities to serve as a foundation for smart city building.

The Government will send an advisory group to help the province build an initial basis for the plan, he noted.

He added that the local administration should actively seek their own methods of resolving outstanding problems.

At the meeting, Viet also reported on local development in 2018, elaborating that 87 of the 116 local communes have been recognised as new-style rural areas, while the household poverty rate has been reduced by 1 percent to 2.9 percent.

The province issued a resolution on developing high-quality tourism, helping to raise the number of three- to five-star hotels. Businesses have also been requested to upgrade local tourist sites and diversify tourism services.

Lam Dong welcomed about 6.5 million tourist arrivals this year, with the number of foreign visitors up 21 percent from 2017, the official said.

Aside from the smart city plans, the province will also push on with agricultural restructuring, forest management and protection, and attracting investment into farm produce processing and environmentally-friendly manufacturing, Viet added. –VNA