Attending were Mr. Daniel Stork - Consul General of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Ho Chi Minh City; Mr. Mai Hung Dung - Member of the Provincial Standing Party Committee, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuan – General Director of Becamex IDC; leaders of provincial departments, committees and branches and leaders of Netherlands enterprises.
Effective cooperation in building Smart City
Speaking at the opening of the conference, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Mai Hung Dung briefly introduced the socio-economic situation of Binh Duong in 2021. Despite facing many difficulties and challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Binh Duong still strived to maintain economic growth and development, flexibly exchanged, connected and cooperated in many forms with foreign partners and has achieved very encouraging results. Index of industrial production (IIP) in 2021 was estimated to increase by 4.5% compared to 2020. Export turnover was estimated at 31.5 billion USD (up 13.5%). Import turnover was estimated at 24.7 billion USD (up 14.7%). Trade surplus in 2021 reached 6.8 billion USD. The province's gross regional domestic product (GRDP) has always achieved a fairly high growth rate compared to the average growth rate of the entire country.
Over the years, Binh Duong province's government has always been interested in supporting the development of investment enterprises in the province through improving the investment environment, enhancing competitiveness, applying science and technology to simplify administrative procedures, deploying human resource training, building social housing, housing for workers, supplying labor resources for enterprises to invest in the province. Therefore, Binh Duong has always been evaluated as one of the leading provinces and cities in the country in socio-economic development, industrial development and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI). Currently, Binh Duong ranks second in the country in terms of FDI attraction after Ho Chi Minh City with a total of 4,016 projects from 65 countries and territories with a total registered capital of more than 37 billion USD.
Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Mai Hung Dung speaks at the conference
Mr. Mai Hung Dung said, Binh Duong province and Eindhoven city (Netherlands) have officially established friendly and cooperative relations in the fields of: Infrastructure planning, urban construction and development, economic - trade cooperation, science and technology, health, education and training since January 2015.
After more than 5 years of signing the friendship cooperation agreement, the two sides have sent high-ranking delegations to visit each other, conduct trade promotion and investment cooperation activities, carry out exchange and cooperation programs in many fields, especially in the field of cooperation in the development of Smart City project. With the active support of the Eindhoven City government, the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Ho Chi Minh City, Brainport Group and Becamex IDC Corporation, Binh Duong province has continuously successfully organized major international conferences and seminars on smart cities in 2016, 2017; successfully applied the cooperation model of Three Houses in accordance with the actual situation in the locality; step by step effectively implemented the action program called Binh Duong Navigator with the main parts being People, Technology, Business and foundational elements. Programs that promote innovation and scientific and technological research, modern education such as STEM/STEAM, provincial innovation center, TechLabs, FabLabs, enterprise incubators, etc. have been actively and vigorously deployed by the government as well as universities and enterprises.
With a suitable and consistent development orientation and with its own efforts, Binh Duong province has achieved some very encouraging results, being the first locality of Vietnam to officially become a member of the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). Continuously for 4 years 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, Binh Duong has been honored by ICF as one of 21 cities and regions with typical smart city development strategies of the world (SMART 21). Particularly in 2021, Binh Duong was honored in the world's Top7 Intelligent Communities.
Towards green, smart, sustainable development and environmental protection
Mr. Daniel Stork - Consul General of the Netherlands in Ho Chi Minh City highly appreciated the development of Binh Duong. According to him, Binh Duong is an attractive destination for investors, many Netherlands enterprises have operated effectively in Binh Duong such as: Phillip, Unilever, Friesland Campina, etc. In particular, the cooperation between the authorities of Binh Duong province and Eindhoven city in general, between Brainport Group and Becamex IDC Corporation in particular, have achieved initial successes, especially in building Binh Duong Smart City. He expressed his impression of the province's efforts in improving an increasingly attractive investment environment and a livable environment for the people. Towards the 50th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the Netherlands, he believed that, through efforts to implement the committed contents, the two sides will achieve more success in cooperation in many fields. He said that this conference is a great opportunity for Netherlands enterprises to discuss with leaders of Binh Duong province about their difficulties, problems and needs.
Mr. Daniel Stork - Consul General of the Netherlands in Ho Chi Minh City highly appreciates the development of Binh Duong
Mr. Pham Ngoc Thuan - General Director of Becamex IDC said that Becamex aims to develop an ecosystem of health services, education and green infrastructure, creating a good living and working environment for workers. For the Netherlands, in January 2015, the province signed cooperation agreements with Eindhoven city and Brainport Group. Through that, Binh Duong Smart City Project has been effectively implemented. In its development strategy, Binh Duong province will continue to implement the Project "Binh Duong Smart City in the 2022 – 2026 period" with integrated planning orientations throughout Binh Duong province, focus on training and attracting high-quality human resources, develop science and technology, research and develop an innovative startup ecosystem, promote the proportion of services, especially e-commerce, international trade with the typical project of Binh Duong New City World Trade Center, creating breakthroughs in the process of deeper and deeper international integration and creating new development momentum in the context of the Industrial Revolution 4.0.
Mr. Do Thai Phuong - Unilever's Vice President of Sustainable Development and Communication supports the green and sustainable development orientation of Binh Duong province
Netherlands enterprises agreed and supported the green and sustainable development orientation of Binh Duong province. Mr. Do Thai Phuong - Unilever's Vice President of Sustainable Development and Communication said that besides production and business activities, the company's goal is sustainable development and environmental protection. He hoped to have many opportunities to join hands with the province in the management of plastic waste, recycling, waste water and exhaust gas treatment, etc. in the direction of green, smart, environmental protection for sustainable development.
The representative of De Heus Company hoped that the province will continue to develop transport infrastructure, create a favorable living environment to attract enterprises to invest and experts to live and work in the province.
The representative of De Heus Company speaks at the conference
Responding to this issue, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Mai Hung Dung said that Binh Duong is implementing a project to renovate National Highway 13 and build a series of underpasses and overpasses on Highway 13, My Phuoc - Tan Van road. At the same time, the province makes efforts to coordinate with localities to accelerate the schedule of Ring Road 3. Besides the roads, in the long term, the province will research and develop the river port and railway system. He believed that traffic projects when put into operation will contribute to facilitate the circulation of goods and attract more and more enterprises to invest in the province.
In addition, leaders of provincial departments, committees and branches also answered questions from Netherlands enterprises about entry and exit procedures of foreigners; ensuring labor resources for enterprises through connections with universities and colleges; policies to support enterprises in promoting sustainable development such as installing solar power systems and treating wastewater, etc.
Concluding the conference, Mr. Mai Hung Dung acknowledged the contributions of Netherlands enterprises to the development of Binh Duong province. In the coming time, Binh Duong prioritizes attracting investment in high-tech, environment-friendly, less labor-intensive industries and fields, creating high added value, especially attracting investment in industrial parks from developed countries, leading potential partners in the world with modern management level, including Netherlands partners. He wished Binh Duong province and Netherlands partners and enterprises to cooperate and develop sustainably in the coming time. Provincial leaders are committed to creating all the most favorable conditions for enterprises to operate effectively.
Reported by Phuong Chi- Translated by Thanh Tam