EuroCham Presented at the Industry 4.0 Summit 2018 Conference

EuroCham Co-Chairman Mr. Denis Brunetti and Board Member Mr. Thue Thomasen spoke at the Industry 4.0 Summit 2018 Conference – Exhibition in Hanoi on 12-13 July 2018: “Vision and Development Strategy in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”.

The summit, jointly held by the Vietnamese Government and the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission  (“CEC”), attracted nearly 2,000 delegates, including 11 ambassadors and representatives from international organisations, over 50 leading experts from the region and around the world, and both domestic and international businesses.
 
The high-level forum, “Vision and Development Strategy in the Fourth Industrial Revolution”, opened the series of thematic sessions, with the participation of leaders from the Government, ministers, sectors and international experts focused on implementing Industry 4.0 technologies in Viet Nam. It also discussed policies and action plans to enable Viet Nam to participate in and keep pace with the latest technological trends, and provided favorable conditions for businesses to promote the application of Industry 4.0 technologies to increase their competitiveness.

Ahead of the Summit, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc and Chairman of the Central Party Economic Commission, H.E. Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, met with international ICT experts, representatives of science & technology enterprises and international organisations participating in the Industry 4.0 Summit and Expo 2018.  At the meeting, ICT experts hailed the role played by the Vietnamese Government in shaping and developing technology amidst the Fourth Industrial Revolution. They expressed hope that the Prime Minister and Government would implement policies to aid a breakthrough in the area of artificial intelligence, and suggested that the Government create widespread consensus among society, thus creating “digital chances” for enterprises and people to engage deeper with Industry 4.0 practices.

An exhibition on July 13th featured some of the world’s leading technology corporations showcasing innovative technological solutions, such as CIM, Smart Factory, Nano Technology, Renewable Energy, Robotics Technology, Smart Home, Blockchain, Network Security, and Authentication. The event provided an opportunity for delegates and customers to access smart industry products and solutions in the manufacturing, finance-banking, agriculture and information technology industries, while offering a platform for businesses to learn from each other and find opportunities to cooperate.

Among the event’s highlights was the presence of Sophia – UNDP’s Innovation Champion, the world’s first robot with citizenship. This special citizen answered a number of questions related to sustainable development and the potential to apply artificial intelligence solutions.

During the opening, Member of the Politburo & Secretariat of Central Party of Vietnam, Chairman of CEC, H.E. Mr. Nguyen Van Binh, stressed that: “the right and timely exploitation of the opportunities of Industry 4.0 is the common challenge of the countries, but for a developing country like Vietnam, the challenge is even greater. The new industrial revolution gives us many opportunities to advance our technology, production capacity and competitiveness in the global value chain; create a major change in the more sustainable business model and the opportunity for start-ups to innovate. On the other hand, it gives developing countries the potential to shorten the industrialization process by turning off, catching up and leaping to higher technology”.

Following the high-level dialogue were five thematic sessions covering many aspects of Industry 4.0, including: Session 1 – Mega Trends of the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Impacts and Suggestions for Vietnam; Session 2 – Building Smart Cities Sustainably in the Context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution; Session 3 – Developing Smart Manufacturing Industry: Vision and Technology Solutions; Session 4 – The Next Generation of Banking & Finance in the Fourth Industrial Revolution; and Session 5 – Vision and Solutions for the Sustainable Development of “Smart Agriculture".

EuroCham Co-Chairman Denis Brunetti, participating in Session 2, said: “Policies to support the application of Smart Cities sustainably should be unified, coordinated and finalised in term of its nature; to combine comprehensive resources from IT, Education and all other industries to gear towards digital convergence. Relevant ministries and sectors need to coordinate a comprehensive plan, a step-by-step roadmap and plan to implement Smart Cites in a clear and detailed way (…) The Government increasingly focus on simplifying administrative procedure and regulations to help easily tack the application of innovations, beginning with advanced and modern Smart Cities initiatives. Cooperation, Simplicity, Innovation, Education and Security are keys to building sustainable Smart Cities in Vietnam”.

Representing EuroCham members, Mr. Thue Quist Thomasen also participated in the panel discussion of Session 4 on how European enterprises could support the State Bank in creating a sandbox environment for new FinTech startups.