HCM City (VNA) – Ho Chi Minh City desires to partner with theWorld Economic Forum (WEF) to leverage the outcomes of the HCM City Economic Forum for the development of the southern largest economic hub and Vietnam in general, Chairman ofthe municipal People’s Committee Phan Van Mai told WEF Managing Director Jeremy Jurgens.

At a meeting on September 15 with Jurgens, who is on a working trip to attend the HCM City Economic Forum 2023 (HEF 2023), Mai highly appreciated the WEF for signing ajoint statement on cooperation with the municipal People's Committee, creatingopportunities for HEF to become part of the WEF’s ecosystem.

He expressed his hope that the WEF will offer a chance for HCM City todemonstrate its friendliness and capability when hosting events of the WEF.

Mai briefed the guest on climate change-related challenges facing HCM City,saying that the city wants to collaborate with the WEF to gain deeper insightsand assessments regarding climate change, which can then be used to review andadjust the city's development strategy.

The official thanked Jurgens for his suggestion regarding the establishment of a fourth industrial revolution centre in HCMCity, affirming that it possesses favourable conditions in terms of legalframework, high-quality human resources, and strong connection and interactionwith the private business community of the city and the region, to make thisinitiative a success.

HCM City is committed to responsibly participating in the centre’s developmentand operations, Mai affirmed.

For his part, Jurgens spoke highly of the theme “Green growth - the journey to zero emissions” of HEF2023, noting that this is an important issuethat has garnered attention from countries.

The WEF was impressed with HEF 2023’s format and scale, and is ready to work with HCM City to jointly organise the WEF’s future events, he said.

Jurgens stressed that the formation of the fourth industrial revolution centre in HCM City depends on three crucialfactors that the municipal authorities need to pay attention to, including thealignment of policies between central and local authorities regardingdevelopment directions, the quality of the entity responsible for managing the centreand the human resources for absorbing knowledge and technology; and the supportand collaboration of the private sector.

The WEF is willing to partner with HCM City inlooking for and selecting personnel for the centre, especially those withproficiency in the Vietnamese language, he added.

For the southern hub’s green economic and sustainable development-oriented developmentstrategy, the Managing Director said HCM City needs to assess its entire energy ecosystem,including the use of smart public transport and the transformation of urbanelectricity transmission system./.