LOUIS ZACHARILLA, Co-Founder of ICF: Binh Duong's direction is unique, effective and right

On the sidelines of the event Honoring the Top 7 World Smart Communities held on June 20 and 21, there were many opinions raised by experts at the talk shows. However, the most impressive content was the speech by Louis Zacharilla, co-founder of the Intellectual Community Forum (ICF). For greater concern, Binh Duong Newspaper had an interview with Mr. Louis Zacharilla about innovation.

Louis Zacharilla (middle) and the ICF’s delegation visit provincial Public Administration Center

- How do you evaluate innovation taking place in Binh Duong?

- Binh Duong today is really different and has many changes compared to 2015 - the first time I had the opportunity to visit. Before visiting Binh Duong for local admission to the ICF, I had some friends sharing a lot of information about the culture, land and people here. It can be affirmed that the innovation career in association with the smart city construction project implemented by the authorities, businesses and people of Binh Duong since 2016 has made certain achievements. Our records in the past few days show that in Binh Duong, there have been quite successful innovative works and projects. With the speed of innovation happening quickly and widely, I believe that in the next few years, the province will have more innovation icons like Eastern International University, Intellectual Operation Center, Data Center…

-How do you assess about Binh Duong's efforts in the current innovation process?

- I know that in the past, Binh Duong was a province where 96% of the economic structure was agriculture. Since the province has implemented policies to attract investment associated with building and developing the economic models of industrial parks and compounds, the local economy has got thriving. After completing the local goal on economic development, I believe that Binh Duong is moving towards a larger, more distant goal-similar to what some other cities around the world are doing. And what impresses me with the authorities, businesses and people of Binh Duong is that you are always "pioneering to pave the way" before the trends become popular. In the past, you thought of a concentrated industrial urban model, but today, you have boldly pioneered in innovation, implementing digital transformation drastically and strongly. I believe that this is the goal that the local government, businesses and people are always determined for implementation.

- What is Binh Duong’s trend on socio-economic transformation in the coming years, sir?

- As mentioned above, Binh Duong is currently a locality with relatively fast socio-economic development in Vietnam in particular and in Asia in general. Although the province's main economy is now industry, I believe that the province is gradually shifting the local socio-economic development to the knowledge-oriented one. This is clearly shown in the determination of building up a smart city that the province has been working hard to implement. When visiting innovation projects in the province, I realized that the current development orientation of Binh Duong is quite similar to that of Ohio in the U.S. Ohio is currently a fairly developed locality in terms of industrial urban model and is tending to shift to commerce - services associated with the knowledge economy. They use science and technology as a tool to serve people, helping them work, live and enjoy life more easily. This is also the orientation in the smart city building strategy that Binh Duong is aiming for: Knowledge economy, sustainable development.

- What is the difference between Binh Duong and other cities in the World Smart Community?

- Before talking about the difference, I would like to share the common point that countries and territories always aim for is economic growth in harmony with ecological protection. The strong population explosion and strong economic growth have directly posed important social problems and we must find ways to solve them. In particular, the environment is the first urgent concern. I am very happy to know that Binh Duong has always placed the top concern on this issue and now the province has an automatic environmental monitoring system that works quite effectively that many localities have not done yet. In addition, when working with provincial leaders, I also heard them talk a lot about contents related to the life of the community. I believe that the government is trying to do everything to help people improve their income and quality of life. Even in the goal and orientation of smart city construction, Binh Duong also take people as the center and science and technology are just tools to serve people. This is a great idea that not all cities have thought of.

- Thank you!

Reported by Dinh Thang-Translated by Kim Tin