This was the agreement during the meeting on February 5 between Hanoi Mayor Nguyen  Duc Chung and Marten van den Berg, Director General, Foreign Economic Relations held at the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Hanoi Mayor Nguyen Duc Chung (R) and Marten van den Berg, Director General, Foreign Economic Relations held at the Netherlands’ Ministry of Foreign Affairs

As the two countries share similar concerns and development targets, the Netherlands is willing to support Hanoi in improving urban planning. The bilateral cooperation would involve water management and urban infrastructures.
With Hanoi focusing on building a smart city, the Netherlands wants to bring in leading companies in green technology to help the Vietnamese capital address traffic and climate change problems as well as challenges posed by urban development, the Dutch official said.
Also at the meeting, the two sides agreed on closer cooperation  between Hanoi and Amsterdam as the solid foundation for further development of Vietnam-Netherlands ties, which marks its 45^th year of establishment in 2018.
A series of events to celebrate this milestone includes the World Press Photo exhibition held by the Dutch Embassy.  “We hope to receive Hanoi’s support and facilitation for this event”, said van den Berg.
For his part, Mayor Chung, on behalf of Hanoi authorities, pointed out the various activities involved in the 45^th anniversary of Vietnam-Netherlands ties. Chung said Vietnam and the Netherlands, as well as Hanoi and Amsterdam, have strengthened their friendship over the years, as evidenced by such projects as the Hanoi–Amsterdam High School for the Gifted.
Other cooperation areas mentioned by Marten van den Berg received support from the Hanoi Mayor: “Hanoi highly appreciates the help of Dutch experts and enterprises in making the city develop in a smart and sustainable way.”Chung revealed that in building Hanoi as a smart city, he prefers to utilize European technologies, especially from the Netherlands, in wastewater treatment and prevention and mitigation of environmental pollution. Hanoi, he said, plans to work with the Dutch company Philips to install a comprehensive lighting system throughout the city.