Inauguration of Vietnam Industrial Revolution 4.0 Center at Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park

The establishment of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Center is the concretization of the agreement signed between Vietnam and WEF, in which the connecting unit is the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the implementing unit is Ho Chi Minh City.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the inauguration ceremony of the Industrial Revolution 4.0 Center in Ho Chi Minh City on September 25.

On the morning of September 25, during his participation in the 5th Ho Chi Minh City Economic Forum, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the inauguration ceremony of the Center for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in Ho Chi Minh City and worked with the founding members of the Center.

Also attending the inauguration ceremony were Comrade Nguyen Van Nen, Politburo member, Secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee; Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai; leaders of departments, ministries, branches, and central agencies; representatives of the World Economic Forum and the C4IR Center of Malaysia, and the Center's founding units.

Immediately after the inauguration ceremony, the Prime Minister met and worked with the founding members of the Center.

The C4IR Center in Ho Chi Minh City is part of the global network of the World Economic Forum (WEF); it is the second C4IR center in Southeast Asia (after Malaysia) and the 19th in the world in the WEF network. The Center is headquartered in the High-Tech Park (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City), officially coming into operation from September 24, 2024.

This is the result of the efforts of the Vietnamese Government and Ho Chi Minh City in promoting increasingly deep cooperation between Vietnam and WEF, especially the attention and promotion of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, the exchanges between the Prime Minister and Professor Klaus Schwab - Founding Chairman of WEF.

At the meeting with the Prime Minister, the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City reported on the establishment cooperation process and mission of C4IR; the leaders of WEF introduced the global C4IR network, C4IR in Ho Chi Minh City and the value and prospects of cooperation between WEF and Ho Chi Minh City within the framework of C4IR; the founders reported on the operating plans of the founding enterprises within the framework of C4IR.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at a meeting and working session with founding members of the Center for Industrial Revolution 4.0 in Ho Chi Minh City.

Speaking at the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the establishment of the Center is the concretization of the agreement signed between Vietnam and WEF, in which the connecting units are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ho Chi Minh City. This is a relationship between Vietnam and WEF.

The Prime Minister welcomed and highly appreciated the establishment of the Center on the basis of implementing the Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation between the Government of Vietnam and WEF for the period 2023 - 2026, in which the implementing units are the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Ho Chi Minh City. This is the result of the increasingly developing relationship between Vietnam and WEF, in the spirit of practicality, efficiency, in line with the trend of the times and the conditions and circumstances of Vietnam.

The Prime Minister praised the active efforts of the leaders of Ho Chi Minh City and thanked the leaders of WEF, especially Professor Klaus Schwab, the founding enterprises, international partners, organizations and individuals who have accompanied Vietnam in building this Center.

The Prime Minister pointed out 6 important meanings of the establishment of the Center: To concretize and implement the Party's policies and guidelines on science and technology, innovation, applying achievements of the 4th industrial revolution, promoting industrialization and modernization according to the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress and the Resolution of the Central Committee; meeting the objective requirements of reality in national development; contributing to deep integration in the field of science and technology, innovation, participating in the 4th industrial revolution.

Along with that, the establishment of the Center also demonstrates the pioneering role of Ho Chi Minh City - the economic, financial, service, cultural, educational - training, scientific - technological and innovation center of the country and the region; demonstrates the aspiration and pride of the country, affirms the mettle, intelligence, dynamism and creativity of the Vietnamese people; affirms the close relationship between Vietnam and WEF with the spirit of saying is doing, committing must be done.

The Prime Minister expressed his trust and expectations for the Center in 20 words: Pioneering, cooperating, connecting, digitalizing, greening, practical, effective, spreading, for the country, for the people.

According to the Prime Minister, sustainable and inclusive development based on the application of modern science and technology, strongly promoting startups and innovation is an inevitable trend, an objective requirement, a strategic choice and a top priority of today's world and of countries.

In the coming time, in order for the Center to operate practically and effectively and promote its role, the Prime Minister clearly stated that the responsibility of the Government, ministries and branches is to orient, build institutions and have appropriate development priority policies; Ho Chi Minh City clearly defines the functions, tasks and powers, creates favorable conditions in terms of facilities and operating mechanisms for the Center to be quick, convenient and meet development requirements.

Enterprises and founders provide support in terms of financial resources, infrastructure, human resources, and administration. The Center, based on its functions, tasks, and powers, promotes the spirit of self-reliance, self-reliance, autonomy, initiative, and activeness to operate effectively.

The Prime Minister expressed his trust and expectations for the Center in 20 words: Pioneering, cooperating, connecting, digitalizing, greening, practical, effective, spreading, for the country, for the people.

At the event, Chairman of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee Phan Van Mai said that the C4IR Center in Ho Chi Minh City will strengthen cooperation with C4IR centers around the world to support the proposal of solutions and policy recommendations, research on priority breakthrough areas of the City and the Southeast region in line with national orientation and international trends, mobilize resources, capital, support the Government and businesses to apply new technologies in line with the trend of the 4th industrial revolution.

Mr. Phan Van Mai said that this is a national center located in Ho Chi Minh City. The organization and operation of the Center itself both learns and refers to the experience of existing C4IR centers in the world, and creatively applies it to the conditions of Vietnam, clearly demonstrating the nature of public-private partnership. Ho Chi Minh City will send human resources and contribute a part of the initial financial contribution, but the Center's activities will strongly promote the role of enterprises with resources and management experience of the private sector.

The Center has 10 founding members, including Ho Chi Minh City National University, Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park, Saigon University of Technology, Viettel Group, Sovico Group, CMC Group, Saigon Telecommunication Technology Company, Techcombank, HDBank, etc.

Ho Chi Minh City will quickly complete the Center's operating regulations, closely following the direction of the Prime Minister and instructions of central ministries and branches, and most effectively implementing the spirit of the 20 words that the Prime Minister sent.

The founders will contribute finance and human resources to participate in the management, operation and organization of activities according to world standards (in the short term, about 10 activities per year).

Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang speaks.

Speaking at the event, Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Minh Hang emphasized that the establishment of the Center is a very specific step in implementing the vision, direction, determination and enthusiasm of the Prime Minister in seizing opportunities to connect the latest global centers and trends.

Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang raised 3 opinions:

Firstly, the WEF's network of Industrial Revolution 4.0 centers consists of 19 facilities, including 2 in ASEAN (Malaysia and Vietnam). The Deputy Minister hopes that the WEF can support the Center in Vietnam in 4 areas: Institutions, policies; governance; technology and human resources. "We hope that the Center in Vietnam will closely connect with WEF centers to contribute to the digital transformation of Vietnam in particular and the world in general," the Deputy Minister emphasized.

Second , the Center is expected to create a spread, not only in Ho Chi Minh City but also create momentum for the digital transformation process nationwide. According to the Deputy Minister, industrial transformation is a new issue for countries around the world, still in the stage of building processes and regulations, therefore, with the establishment of this center, Vietnam can completely contribute more positively to the world in terms of technology transformation, governance, human resources, etc.

Third , the Deputy Minister emphasized that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will continue to accompany the City and connect WEF with localities. "With Vietnam's economic achievements, our country's position and the direct participation of the Prime Minister, WEF leaders really hope that the Prime Minister will participate more in the Organization's activities. Vietnam needs to take advantage of opportunities to promote economic development and cooperate in industrial transformation," Deputy Minister Nguyen Minh Hang emphasized.

Representatives of the founders and leaders of Viettel Group expressed that this event marked a strong development step of Ho Chi Minh City in the era of the 4.0 industrial revolution. Viettel also said that next year, the Group will build a large data center in Cu Chi, Ho Chi Minh City; at the same time, it proposed to prioritize investment in developing technology platforms produced in Vietnam, reduce dependence on imported technology, increase autonomy and innovation; encourage large technology enterprises in the world to enter Vietnam, creating opportunities for domestic enterprises to learn.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Sovico Group.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Chairwoman of the Board of Directors of Sovico Group, said that at the Ho Chi Minh City High-Tech Park, the group has implemented many large projects including the Innovation Center - Galaxy Innovation Hub, Aviation Technology Center - Vietjet Aviation Academy, Vikki Digital Bank... Sovico also implemented a Venture Investment Fund worth 150 billion VND and a High-Tech Development Support Fund worth 100 billion VND.

In the development plan for the next period, as a founding member of the Center, Sovico commits to continue to invest heavily in high-tech, modern projects according to international standards; commits to creating a space to connect domestic innovation organizations and the goal of attracting international resources for training, scientific research, and technology transfer to contribute to building a knowledge-based economy, promoting innovation in sustainable growth models, based on science, technology and innovation; commits to increasing funding sources and providing financial solutions to support high-tech enterprises, carbon-emission reduction enterprises, especially projects to transform and apply advanced technology in the circular economy; commits to continue to accompany enterprises in applying green technology, creating sustainable development solutions that are friendly to the environment.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/khanh-thanh-trung-tam-cach-mang-cong-nghiep-40-viet-nam-tai-khu-cong-nghe-cao-tp-ho-chi-minh-287553.html