Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Pledges Cooperation with Vietnam on Local Urban Development and Railway Construction

Joint Civil-Government Support Team Dispatched to Vietnam from 15th to 17th
Support for ODA and EDCF, Agreement to Form Yanggu Cooperation Committee

South Korea supports Vietnam's large-scale projects such as urban development and railway construction.

Park Sang-woo, Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, visited Vietnam from the 15th to the 17th as the head of the Vietnam Civil-Government Joint Support Group.

Minister of Land, Infrastructure and Transport Park Sang-woo met with Nguyen Thang Nghi, Minister of Construction of Vietnam, on the 16th to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Urban and Housing Development.
[Photo by Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport]

This visit was made to concretize the follow-up projects of the Urban Development Cooperation Program (UGPP). UGPP is a bilateral cooperation program focused on Vietnam's urban development through government-to-government (G2G) cooperation, signed last year.

Through this cooperation framework, plans are in place to support Korean companies in securing infrastructure projects such as the $57.3 billion high-speed railway construction between Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

On the 16th, Minister Park signed agreements including the "Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on Urban and Housing Development" and the "Implementation Plan for Smart City and Social Housing Construction" with Nguyen Thanh Nghi, Minister of Construction of Vietnam, to actively promote the development of Dong Nam New City in Bac Ninh Province. The development of Dong Nam New City in Bac Ninh Province is the first project of "urban export," which is being promoted to transform the paradigm of overseas construction orders into "value-added and industrial package entry."

The agreements include activating public-private cooperation between the two countries for UGPP implementation, exchanges on smart cities and social housing, policy fund support such as Official Development Assistance (ODA) and Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), and the formation of a cooperation committee for agreement implementation. Based on the agreements, plans will be made at the central government level of Vietnam for the participation of Korean companies in urban development including Dong Nam New City in Bac Ninh Province and the construction of one million social housing units.

Through a meeting with Nguyen Anh Tuan, Party Secretary of Bac Ninh Province, specific participation plans for Korea in Dong Nam New City were discussed. According to the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Bac Ninh Province requested the participation of Korea Land and Housing Corporation (LH) and others to expedite construction progress.

Minister Park also met with Nguyen Xuan Sang, Vice Minister of Transport, to discuss the necessity of signing an MOU including participation plans in the $57.3 billion Vietnamese high-speed railway construction market.

Additionally, through the "Korea-Vietnam Innovation Forum," cooperation projects between the two countries and Korea's smart city experiences were explained. About 200 representatives from Korean and Vietnamese companies and governments attended the event.

Minister Park said, "Through this trip to Vietnam, the first step toward urban export, the goal of our overseas construction, has been taken. We will support at the government level to successfully realize Dong Nam New City in Vietnam with our technology and to secure the Vietnamese high-speed railway construction market."

Meanwhile, on the 15th, Minister Park gave a lecture on the advantages of Korea's smart city technology and development experience to about 200 students and academics at Ho Chi Minh University of Economics. He emphasized Korea's rapidly developed urban development level and various smart solutions based on information and communication technology (ICT), presenting a blueprint for Vietnam's urban development.