EuroCham participates in Smart Industry World 2017 organised by the Party’ Central Economic Commission

On the 5th of December, a EuroCham delegation led by Dr. Gellért Horváth, EuroCham Co-Chairman, attended the Smart Industry Revolution 2017 exhibition and conference, co-organised by the Party’s Central Economic Commission and IDG. The exhibition was opened and chaired by H.E. Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, alongside many other high-level government officials. Mr. Thierry Rocaboy, Chairman of Food, Agri and Aqua Business Sector Committee (FAABS) and Mr. Tomaso Andreatta, Vice-Chairman of EuroCham and Chairman of Green Growth Sector Committee (GGSC) also joined and presented in the dedicated sessions.

In the first session, under the chairmanship of Mr. Cao Duc Phat, former Minister of Agriculture and Standing Vice-chairman of the Central Economic Commission, FAABS shared experiences from the field of Agriculture 4.0. Mr. Rocaboy delivered a presentation: Towards a sustainable food sector in Vietnam: The role of a precision production system. He talked about precision agriculture, and his presentation included concrete experiences of sugar cane harvesting, drone adoption in agriculture and tackling antimicrobial resistance through precision nutrition and reshaping formulation. These examples showed that, with the support of European experience and expertise, Vietnam can better monitor production costs while bringing safety and sustainability to the food system.

The roundtable discussion shared the idea that when talking about technology, the human factor is still the most important element. To bring Vietnam up to the next level and to take full advantage of the technical revolution 4.0, greater collaboration and cooperation should be encouraged between both private and public stakeholders.
The Free-Trade Agreement between the European Union and Vietnam (EVFTA) is a good opportunity to adapt and improve the legal framework, influence opinion and help to achieve the transformation of Vietnam’s agriculture towards a modern, safe, sustainable and green sector. The necessary conditions include organising value chains, improving knowledge and know-how, implementing good and sustainable practices and creating Geographical Indications and trusted labels.

Later, in Session 3, Mr. Andreatta delivered a presentation on: Best practice sharing on building smart cities in European countries. He shared three case studies: Barcelona, one of the world’s leading smart cities, Amsterdam, one of the best European cities to locate an international business, and Tallinn.

In particular, Barcelona implements a combination of urban planning, ecological research and information technology to ensure technology benefits every household in the city. It even formed a “Smart City Barcelona” team to work on 22 programs in the areas of transportation, water, energy, waste and open government. Meanwhile, Amsterdam has a strong commitment to green research, development and investment in sustainable initiatives. Since connectivity plays a key role in the smart city program, the unique partnership between businesses, authorities, research institutions and the public has been central to the success of the smart city project in Amsterdam. In Tallinn, the City Council adopted “Development Plan 2014 – 2020”. This outlines the city’s initial objective of making Tallinn smarter, with the eventual goal of building an efficient city authority with an excellent service culture and a management system based on knowledge. The success of Tallinn in smart-city development has been achieved mainly by Government partners, rather than the Government itself. The smartest and most effective move of the local authorities is being able to involve great participants for the Government.
Mr. Andreatta also discussed and linked the successful smart cities around the world with Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City’s plans to become smart cities. With the EVFTA expected to be implemented in 2018, the requirement for renewable energy, an efficient and sustainable energy market and sustainable, energy-saving and environmentally friendly buildings are all covered. EuroCham and GGSC are supporting the Government of Vietnam, European and international donor organisations and European investors in the clean technology and green sectors. EuroCham continues to support Vietnam’s Smart City vision, through our Smart City conference series in 2016 and our launch of the Greenbook in 2017, which gives an overview of renewable energy, water and waste management, smart cities and green buildings in Vietnam.