Within the framework of the official visit to South Korea by Politburo Member, National Assembly Chairman Tran Thanh Man and his wife and the high-level Vietnamese delegation, on September 7, Member of the Party Central Committee, Deputy Secretary of the City Party Committee, Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Vu Dai Thang had a bilateral working session with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon.
Expressing his joy at meeting Mayor Oh Se-hoon again after his visit to Hanoi in 2025, Chairman of the City People's Committee Vu Dai Thang emphasized that the visit is of particular importance in the context of the two Capitals celebrating the 30th anniversary of the establishment of friendly relations (1996 - 2026).
Looking back at the past three decades, bilateral cooperation between the two capitals Hanoi and Seoul has been constantly consolidated and expanded in many key areas such as urban management and development, planning, transportation, e-government, culture, tourism and people-to-people exchanges.
Highly appreciating Seoul's outstanding achievements in the model of modern, sustainable and innovative urban development, Chairman Vu Dai Thang affirmed that these are also strategic orientations that Hanoi is focusing on prioritizing in the process of building a Civilized - Civilized - Modern Capital.
Through exchanges, in order to promote cooperation in a more substantive direction, leaders of the two Capitals agreed on the direction of cooperation in the coming time to focus on promoting in 4 key areas: Smart cities, artificial intelligence and digital transformation; public transport and green and sustainable urban development; science - technology, innovation, investment and business connection; people-to-people exchanges, culture, education and tourism.
On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of friendly relations, the two sides will move towards discussing and signing a new phase cooperation agreement in the above fields, soon shaping a new cooperation framework, in which determining the transition from exchanging and sharing experiences to jointly coordinating the implementation of specific programs and projects, bringing practical benefits to the people of the two Capitals.
With a large Vietnamese community living, studying and working in Seoul and Korea, Chairman Vu Dai Thang wished the Seoul City Government to continue to pay attention to and create favorable conditions for the Vietnamese community in Seoul to stabilize their lives, study, work and integrate well, making positive contributions to the city's development.
Concluding the working session, Mr. Oh Se-hoon, Mayor of Seoul City, once again affirmed the importance and long-standing partnership between Hanoi - Seoul, playing a positive role, contributing to deepening the Vietnam - Korea Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.
Seoul will actively coordinate and accompany Hanoi City to move towards a new stage of development - more substantive, more effective, more creative and together towards the future.
During the working program with Seoul, the delegation was introduced to visit the policy communication space at the Seoul Gallery in Seoul City Hall to learn about urban planning, smart transportation, environment and social security projects.
This place integrates digital projection technology and interactive screens to illustrate strategic development projects of the Seoul City government. On the same day, the delegation had a working session and in-depth exchange at Seoul AI Hub - a key ecosystem development center of the Korean capital on artificial intelligence.
Here, the two sides shared experiences in promoting the startup ecosystem, attracting technology talents as well as applying AI to urban management and digital life, thereby opening up many practical cooperation prospects in the future.
