The Department of Technical Infrastructure (Ministry of Construction) in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) held a Consultation Workshop: “Policies for comprehensive technical infrastructure development and management; urban underground space development” on August 25th.
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Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van spoke to open the workshop
Deputy Minister of Construction Nguyen Tuong Van; Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office Shinoda Takanobu; representatives of a number of central ministries and branches; leaders of units under the Ministry of Construction; leaders of Construction Departments of provinces and cities nationwide; business representatives and experts from domestic and international organizations attended the workshop.
The workshop was organized in online and offline form in oder to collect opinions and views of ministries, branches, organizations and local authorities to serve for researching and developing the content of the draft Law on Urban Development Management.
Speaking at the workshop, Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van emphasized that with the socio-economic development, population growth and rapid urbanization, cities have affirmed their role as the driving force for economic development and the nucleus promoting socio-economic and labor structure transformation. In particular, the urban technical infrastructure system and underground space have paid vital role in effectively developing urban areas. Using and exploiting underground space effectively, saving land, and properly arranging underground works will not only solve current urban technical infrastructure problems but also contribute to improving the quality of people's living standards and serving the economic development of urban areas.
Overview the workshop
On January 24, 2022, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 06-NQ/TW on planning, construction, management and sustainable development of Vietnamese urban areas until 2030, with a vision to 2045, with the goal “The urban infrastructure, especially the technical infrastructure framework and essential social infrastructure, are built and developed synchronously and modernly".
Deputy Minister Nguyen Tuong Van said that the Ministry of Construction hoped to receive the opinions and views of ministries, branches and local authorities; international experience on these two issues, as a basis for the Ministry of Construction to research and propose policy in the draft Law on Urban Development Management.
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Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office Shinoda Takanobu spoke at the workshop.
Deputy Chief Representative of JICA Vietnam Office Shinoda Takanobu affirmed that urban development in Vietnam made an important contribution to the country's development; created new jobs and improved people's lives. However, in major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh city have had many social problems such as living environment degradation, traffic congestion, air pollution, and natural disaster. One of the solutions to these problems is the safe and effective use of underground space.
In Japan, the use of underground space is issued separately in each law such as the Fire Prevention and Fighting Law and the Road Law with the engagement of stakeholders. Vietnam currently does not have a legal framework related to the use and management of underground space, therefore Vietnam needs to research and develop laws related to the issue, said Mr Shinoda Takanobu.
A representative of the Hanoi Department of Construction recommended some opinions: quickly improve policy institutions and develop laws on exploiting and developing underground space; ensure synchronization with legal system on land, construction and planning; promulgate documents on the rights and responsibilities of organizations and individuals related to planning, construction, exploitation and use of underground space; develop regulations on financial mechanisms to create funding for maintenance and operation, especially for public underground space areas; diversify capital mobilization methods for underground space development; complete standards, technical regulations, economic and technical norms, and technical processes related to planning, construction, and maintenance of underground works; build an underground construction database system and urban geological structure database.
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Experts recommended some solutions at the workshop.
Experts and delegates also contributed many practical opinions to the Ministry of Construction: research and evaluate urban underground space reserves; focus on planning, surveying, exploration, design and appraisal of underground works; develop a system of standards and regulations for underground construction; pay more attention to climate change response in the process of developing the draft Law on Urban Development Management.
To conclude the workshop, Director of the Department of Technical Infrastructure Ta Quang Vinh thanked the Japan International Cooperation Agency, ministries, central branches and localities for paying attention and accompanying with the Ministry of Construction in the field of making policy on technical infrastructure in particular and construction in general. He also affirmed that the Ministry of Construction would quickly synthesize and absorb comments to research and complete the draft Law on Urban Development Management.