Last week, the working delegation from the City of Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, visited and worked in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) as part of the "Business Forum Saint Petersburg – Ho Chi Minh City" organized by the Foreign Affairs Committee of Saint Petersburg City in HCMC from December 4 to December 8, 2023.
Mr. Ngo Vi Dong, Chairman of HPT Company and Chairman of the Southern Information Security Association, accompanied the delegation in their technology-related activities during this trip.
HCMC and Saint Petersburg have significant potential to enhance trade turnover and investment cooperation in areas such as digital transformation, manufacturing and processing industries, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, education, etc. This was discussed by the delegates at the "Business Forum Saint Petersburg – Ho Chi Minh City" on December 5. The forum covered three main topics: Information Technology, Healthcare, and Education.
The forum, attended by leaders from HCMC and Saint Petersburg, representatives from the Vietnamese Embassy in Russia, the Russian Embassy in Vietnam, and businesses from Saint Petersburg in various fields such as information technology, e-commerce, pharmaceuticals, shipbuilding and repair, hydroelectricity, high technology, food, robotics, geological survey, and smart cities.
Chairman Ngo Vi Dong at the "Business Forum Saint Petersburg – Ho Chi Minh City" on December 5, 2023:
The areas where businesses from both sides express interest and potential for cooperation include information technology, healthcare, and education. During the forum, leading technology companies from Saint Petersburg introduced high-application digital transformation solutions for daily life, such as video data analysis, human and vehicle recognition, smart sound systems, security systems, and access control systems.
On the same day, at the Ho Chi Minh City Research and Development Institute, Chairman Ngo Vi Dong, along with Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, Deputy Director of the Institute, welcomed the technology companies from Saint Petersburg led by Mr. Kuzmin Dmitry Vasilyevich, Deputy Director of the Information and Communication Department of Saint Petersburg. During this meeting, both sides discussed research collaboration on data economics and simulation scenarios. With new technologies and solutions related to Big Data analysis, traffic, geography, population density, daily activities, allocation of public facilities (hospitals, schools, residential areas, etc.), industry sectors, mobile networks, successfully implemented in Russia and globally (Indonesia, Peru, Belarus, Nigeria, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, etc.), both sides believe that these technologies are well-suited for forecasting the current social situation as desired by the Institute, promoting early deployment. Consequently, city authorities will have a clearer and more comprehensive view for planning and proposing comprehensive development directions for HCMC in the future.
Chairman Ngo Vi Dong, Dr. Truong Minh Huy Vu, and the business delegation from Saint Petersburg during the working session on December 5, 2023:
One of the significant activities was the working meeting with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Information and Communications on December 6. Deputy Director of the HCMC Department of Information and Communications, Vo Minh Thanh, and Chairman Ngo Vi Dong warmly welcomed the delegation. Mr. Grigoriev Evgeny Dmitrievich, Member of the City Government and Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Saint Petersburg (head of the delegation), expressed delight at the long-term cooperative relationship between Vietnam and the Russian Federation as comprehensive strategic partners. Especially, given the global digital transformation trend, collaboration between leading businesses and technology conglomerates of the two countries is expected to progress significantly. Mr. Grigoriev shared the major information technology and information security events in Saint Petersburg in 2024 and officially invited the Vietnamese counterparts to attend.
Vo Minh Thanh, representing the HCMC Department of Information and Communications, shared plans and development directions for information technology and communication in HCMC until 2030, achievements, challenges, and the need to enhance international cooperation to promote the investment environment for research and development, fostering rapid and sustainable development of the city.
In addition to representing HPT as one of the leading information technology companies in HCMC, Mr. Ngo Vi Dong also represented the VNISA Southern Chapter, a professional social organization, contributing to supporting and promoting cooperation between the two countries through specialized consultations, plans, and connecting collaborative exchanges in the information technology and information security community. He emphasized that information technology is the spearhead of development that any country needs in the current digital age, and more importantly, this is an area where both Vietnam and Russia have strengths and needs, contributing to further enhancing comprehensive cooperation between the two countries.
Chairman Ngo Vi Dong and the leadership of the HCMC Department of Information and Communications during the welcoming and working session with the Saint Petersburg business delegation on December 6, 2023:
The two cities (HCMC and Saint Petersburg) established friendly cooperative relations in 2005 and regularly implement practical cooperation activities through diplomatic channels, government diplomacy, and people-to-people diplomacy. Moreover, Ho Chi Minh City has identified Saint Petersburg as one of the 12 focal points for active cooperation in the coming time.