World Cities Summit Mayors Forum 2023 in Seoul

Mayors and city leaders at the WCS Mayors Forum 2023 in Seoul.

From 24 to 26 September 2023, Permanent Vice Chairman Duong Tan Hien of the City People's Committee attended the World Cities Summit (WCS) Mayors Forum in Seoul, Republic of Korea. The annual WCS Mayors Forum is an exclusive, by-invitation-only global platform for mayors and city leaders to discuss pressing urban challenges and share the best practices. Discussions will centre around the main theme "Liveable and Sustainable Cities: Forging an Inclusive and Resilient Future", as well as four sub-themes of inclusivity, culture and heritage, climate resilience, and innovation.

In his opening remarks, Mr. Desmond Lee, Minister of National Development of Singapore stated that the journey of the WCS Mayors Forum began more than a decade ago, in 2010. Singapore initiated this Forum when the world was just emerging from the Global Financial Crisis, as they wanted to establish a platform where cities around the world could come together to address some of the most pressing urban challenges. Over the years, the Mayors Forum has grown to become an international gathering of minds and hearts – an opportunity for city leaders to have open discussions, share best practices and grow a community where cities around the world can collaborate, network, and support one another.

This year's Forum saw the participation of 49 mayors and city leaders of different cities in the world. As the 2018 Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize Laureate, Seoul is known for its cultural heritage, technological innovations, and remarkable urban rejuvenation efforts. In the program, participants had the opportunity to visit Seoul Museum of Craft Art, Seoul Biennale of Architecture and Urbanism, Seoul Sewerage Science Museum, Cheonggyecheon Museum and learn from other city delegates their best practices in urban planning and management, culture heritage preservation, climate change adaptation and mitigation, as well as innovation in city management and development.

At the Forum, Permanent Vice Chairman Duong Tan Hien had a short presentation on Can Tho City's experience in start-up and innovation support. In his presentation, Permanent Vice Chairman Duong said that since the Government of Vietnam launched it in 2016, startup and innovation activities in Can Tho have been implemented synchronously and diversely. The city aimed to perfect and develop the innovation startup ecosystem, create an environment to promote and support the formation and development of businesses based on the use of intellectual property, technology, new business models, contributing to promoting sustainable economic growth of the city.

In Can Tho, there are 23 organizations/units participating in managing and implementing startup and innovation support activities. In addition, there are 02 startup investment funds that have been established and under operation. Also, there are about 100 startup projects, among these, 30% are startup projects with creativity elements and potential for development.

The City has also establshed the Center for Startups and Innovation with the objectives to support and develop the startup and innovation ecosystem, contributing to innovating growth models on the foundation of science - technology and innovation development, connecting universities with the industrial sector in university-enterprise linkages to research, develop, and apply interdisciplinary and multi-disciplinary advanced technology, promote commercialization of research results, and provide science and technology, start-up and innovation services for individuals, businesses and organizations in Can Tho and the Mekong Delta region.

At the closing session of the Forum, all participants have agreed on the outcomes of their discussion during the two-day sessions. Some of them are: social inclusion and empowerment, including underprivileged and vulnerable groups, are integral to building liveable and sustainable cities; even amid rapid urbanization, it is important for cities to conserve both tangible (cultural sites and landmarks) and intangible (morals and beliefs) culture and heritage to mould a strong and inclusive sense of identity for cities of the future; keeping to net-zero commitment, pushing for renewable and innovative solutions, and planning disaster-resilient infrastructure can forge a climate-resilient future for all cities.

Permanent Vice Chairman Duong Tan Hien (right) and delegates of Can Tho City attending the WCS Mayors Forum 2023.