Dragon Bridge in Da Nang city (Source: VNA) Singapore (VNA) – Three major cities of Vietnam - Hanoi,Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang - will be part of the ASEAN network of smartcities being proposed by Singapore, said Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong onApril 26.
At a dinner he hosted for his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen XuanPhuc, who has been on a three-day official visit to Singapore ahead of the 32ndASEAN Summit, PM Lee said he was very impressed with the cities’ rapid urbandevelopment, adding that their inclusion in the smart cities network will addto ASEAN's vibrancy.
The smart cities network, which aims to better connect digitalinfrastructure and services like e-payments across the region, is Singapore'sflagship initiative as the chair of ASEAN this year.
Singapore is keen to strengthen ASEAN's resilience andinnovation by developing e-commerce regulation and technology infrastructure,and boosting cyber security in the region. ASEAN's digital economy is forecastto hit 200 billion USD by 2025, according to a report by Temasek and Googlelast year.
The proposal on the smart cities network is scheduled to be approvedby ASEAN leaders at the 32nd ASEAN Summit on April 28 and will belaunched within the framework of the next ASEAN Summit hosted by Singapore inNovember.
ASEAN now groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia,Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.-VNA
VNA
