S.Korea, Vietnam complete Smart City Cooperation Center in Hanoi

The South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on Tuesday that it completed the construction of the Korea-Vietnam Smart City Construction Technology Cooperation Center in Hanoi, Vietnam.

The cooperation center was promoted as part of the Ministry's official development assistance (ODA) project to implement the memorandum of understanding (MOU) on construction and urban development cooperation signed between the South Korean Ministry and Vietnam's Ministry of Construction during the 2018 South Korea-Vietnam Summit.

The total project cost is 7.5 billion won ($5.5 million).

The building is located within the Construction Training Center under the Vietnamese Ministry and comprises a South Korean smart city technology exhibition hall, a smart city certification data center, and a virtual reality (VR) experience center.

Participating institutions include the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, the Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements, Korea Land and Housing Corp. (LH), and the Korea Agency for Infrastructure Technology Advancement.

Vietnam is the top in Asia for overseas construction orders by Korean companies, with annual economic growth exceeding 7%, making it a market with high demand for urban and regional development.

The Ministry expects the cooperation center to serve as a hub for domestic construction and information technology companies to enter the Vietnamese market and as a center for smart city cooperation between the two countries.

Write to In-Hyeok Lee at twopeople@hankyung.com