When will Halong become a smart city?

AMATA Corporation intends to pour $1.6 billion into Halong smart city. The project would focus on hi-tech industrial zone (IZ) development, automation, information technology, and especially electronics. The investor would also call for investment in research and development centres, logistics, exhibition centres, and laboratories in Halong.

At a conference on smart city development, Somhatai Panichewa, chief executive officer of AMATA VN Public Company Limited, under AMATA Group from Thailand, said that the project documents have been submitted to the Vietnamese government for approval. The Halong project would be located on an area of 714 hectares in the first phase, and create 300,000 jobs for Vietnamese people as well as make approximately $5 billion in annual revenue.

AMATA is a successful investor in Vietnam, with two major projects in the southeastern province Dong Nai, AMATA City Bien Hoa and AMATA City Long Thanh.

AMATA City Bien Hoa is home to 164 investors from 21 countries and territories with the total registered investment of $2.66 billion and generates 49,000 jobs.

The AMATA City Long Thanh industrial and urban complex covers a total of 1,270ha, 33 per cent of which is for a hi-tech IZ and 67 per cent for an urban community area.

A smart city comprises of smart projects in multiple sectors, such as energy, transport, education, environment, and manufacturing. Smart cities can create high-value products at low costs in accordance to the Industry 4.0 trend.

In Thailand, AMATA has developed three smart cities, inspired by smart cities in developed countries like Yokohama in Japan, Incheon in the Republic of Korea, and Saab AB in Sweden.