Hanoi and Île-de-France have signed cooperation plans for the 2022-2025 period with a focus on planning and urban management, the field of the French region’s strengths.

Representatives of Hanoi and France at the event on Feb 16. Photo: Thuy Linh/ VGP

The issues are covered in the agreement that was released at an online meeting on February 16 chaired by Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee Le Hong Son and Regional Councilor for Ile-de-France Anne-Louise Mesadieu.

The upcoming cooperations include culture and relic management, public transport, waste treatment, water supply, environment protection, and air pollution control.

Speaking at the meeting, Deputy Chairman Le Hong Son said this is an important event for leaders of the two sides to summarize and evaluate cooperation results in 2018-2021 and discuss cooperation for the next period, contributing to the traditional friendship between Hanoi and Île-de-France over the past 33 years.

Anne-Louise Mesadieu said the relationship between Hanoi and Île-de-France is a model of cooperation between localities. "Both sides can exploit each other’s strengths to make the cooperation more effective in different fields."

Nonetheless, flexible governance has enabled both sides to adjusted fields of cooperation in a satisfactory manner.

The partnership will enhance the two sides' relations, which has been lasting for 33 years, participants said at the event, noting results that the two sides achieved in the past four years. Between 2018-2021, 10 out of 19 planned projects were complete, marking the collaboration in urban decoration, restoration of a France-built villa, flower garden around Hoan Kiem Lake, and an exhibition on awareness waste reduction.

Some of the projects failed to be put into operations due to Covid-19 while others are in progress.

Addressing the event, Director of Hanoi’s Department of Foreign Affairs Ngo Minh Hoang reported on the results of cooperation in 2018-2021. She said the Covid-19 pandemic has changed many activities around the world in all fields, including international cooperation in the past two years. Along with that, Ile-de-France and Hanoi also face challenges both economically and socially due to the pandemic.

Decade-long cooperation

The cooperation of the two sides dated back to 1989. It is the first decentralized cooperation agreement signed between France and Vietnam, and one of Île-de-France Region’s oldest international partnerships, according to the Île-de-France region.

Quality of life, urban, environment, and more recently innovation and research form the basis of this partnership.

In June 2018, a Joint Action Plan for the period 2018-2021 was signed. It concerned new cooperation projects with the capital of Vietnam in terms of innovation and research.

In terms of water treatment, the Region has been taking part in the "Vietnam Water Skills Action" (AVEC) project since 2009. This system, run jointly with the Ile-de-France Public Sanitation Service (SIAAP), the departments of Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de- Marne and their Vietnamese partners aim to strengthen local skills in the water, sanitation and waste treatment businesses.

In another vein, the Île-de-France Region also supported the inclusion of the Citadel of Hanoi on the UNESCO World Heritage List. This action was carried out in partnership with the Ile-de-France Regional Tourism Committee (CRT) and the Provins Tourist Office in the early 2010s.

The cooperation with Hanoi was marked with the presence of the Institute of City Trades in Hanoi in 2001 and the Paris Region Expertise-Vietnam office (PRX-Vietnam) in 2017. Their mission is to support experts in the Ile-de-France region in their work and help Ile-de-France businesses meet the needs of their Vietnamese partners.

Typically, the joint action plan has also made it possible to initiate the “Quality of the city – Quality of life” project. The project, which aims at improving the quality of life in Hanoi, was implemented by the PRX-Vietnam office and funded by the French Development Agency (AFD).

The project’s components include integration of environmental issues into urban planning and the sustainable management of green spaces, measurement of air quality and analysis of the impact of public policies on it, and prevention and awareness of waste reduction.

Île-de-France is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France. The region is made up of eight administrative departments: Paris, Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Seine-Saint-Denis, Seine-et-Marne, Val-de-Marne, Val-d’Oise, and Yvelines.