HCM City (VNA) – The 2025 Intelligent Community Forum (ICF) Global Summit opened on December 3 in Ho Chi Minh City, bringing together more than 600 urban leaders, technology experts and international investors.
Co-organised by HCM City’s People’s Committee, ICF and Becamex, the summit focuses on advancing smart, investable and sustainable urban development in Vietnam.
The event examines ICF’s six strategic pillars, which align closely with HCM City’s digital transformation strategy. It serves as a platform to deepen international cooperation, attract high-quality investment and discuss the evolution of next-generation urban models.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee Nguyen Loc Ha emphasised that the city is entering a restructuring phase guided by a vision to build a modern mega-urban centre driven by knowledge, technology and innovation.
He underscored the city’s twin transformation agenda, digitalisation and green growth, including efforts to develop shared databases, upgrade digital and transport infrastructure, and expand the innovation ecosystem through state–academia–business collaboration.
The official noted that the city recently hosted the Autumn Economic Forum with leaders of the World Economic Forum (WEF) attending, resulting in a new cooperation agreement on smart manufacturing. This partnership is expected to strengthen the city’s competitiveness and support its smart city roadmap.
Director of the Department of Science and Technology Lam Dinh Thang highlighted science and innovation as core drivers of smart urban development. HCM City has adopted a series of strategic programmes on AI, smart mobility, digital health and education, and open digital platforms.
The digital economy accounted for 18.7% of the city’s GRDP in 2023 and is targeted to reach 40% by 2030. Parallel to digitalisation, the city is advancing clean energy, emissions reduction and sustainable growth aligned with its Net Zero 2050 commitments.
ICF co-founder Robert Bell described the summit as an opportunity to accelerate digital transformation and sustainable investment across Vietnam. He expressed ICF’s intention to strengthen connections between global smart communities and Vietnamese enterprises to support economic growth and smart urban development.
From December 2-3, high-level dialogues led by ICF co-founders Robert Bell and John Jung feature delegates from Canada, the United States, Brazil, Turkey, Spain and the Netherlands.
Discussions focused on proven smart community models, urban competitiveness, digital innovation and smart governance. Experts also examined new strategic advantages for mega-urban areas following administrative boundary expansion, including greater development space, a larger labour market and stronger regional coordination.
Before the opening, the HCM City People’s Committee hosted a ceremony honouring the Top 7 Intelligent Communities of 2025 announced by ICF: Assai (Brazil), Bursa Metropolitan (Turkey), Durham (Canada), Fairfield (Iowa, the US), Hilliard (Ohio, the US), Kingston (Ontario, Canada) and Las Rozas de Madrid (Spain)./.
