In an attempt to transform Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City into a smart city, authorities have said it will continue to promote the development of ICT.
According to a press release, the city has for many years spearheaded the country’s economic development, contributing 24% to its GDP, 18% of industrial production, and 16% of exports.
The rapid development of technologies during the fourth industrial revolution with technologies such as big data, artificial intelligence, and the internet of things offer a great opportunity for the city to carry out its plans to become a smart city.
The Chairman of the Municipal People’s Committee recently stated that the transformation of the growth model with a focus on innovation and advanced technologies is imperative to ensure the city’s development and maintain its leading economic role in the country.
This is also the basis for the effective implementation of seven breakthrough programmes to fundamentally address the city’s current challenges and orient its future development.
The city, in collaboration with the World Bank, organised a conference on domestic and international experiences in AI research and application last September, which made recommendations for building the foundation for an AI application eco-system in 2019 through 2025.
AI will create the foundation for the smart city.
Becoming a smart and innovative city would create a large market, offering motivation to IT firms to undertake research and development to supply advanced technology solutions.
This would also help attract investment, creating added value for the economy and promoting the rapid and sustainable development of the city.
According to the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, the city began to focus very early on ICT.
It built the Quang Trung Software City, which is the largest software park in the country with 165 businesses and more than 11,000 IT engineers and other workers.
Ho Chi Minh City is the only place in the country that manufactures integrated circuits.
The Secretary noted that labour productivity in the ICT sector was almost double the city’s average, and the sector contributed 4.44% to the city’s economy and nearly became its key economic sector.
Recently, the city decided to create an innovative start-up area to offer the best conditions to start-ups and choosing HCM City to develop IT is the right option for businesses, he added.
As per the city’s Department of Information and Communications, there are more than 5,600 electronics and IT businesses in the city, or around 3% of all enterprises.
The department’s Deputy Director said the electronics-IT sector has achieved high growth rates in recent years, higher than the average rate of the four industries designated as key by the city.
With the government targeting digital economic development, the sector has potential for growth.
To enable electronics and IT to become the city’s key economic sectors, he said local authorities should urge the government to create a legal system that suits modern businesses.
Industry experts also suggest that the city should develop appropriate policies for the development of IT firms, create conditions for small and medium-sized enterprises to supply IT application services to the public sector and support start-ups, especially those using new technologies.