On 8 November 2023 – the Vietnamese Urban Day, the “Vietnam Urban Sustainability Summit 2023” convened at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi, featuring notable attendees including the Minister of Construction and the Vice Chairman of the Central Economic Commission.

Through the MCRP project, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and GIZ Viet Nam support the Vietnam Urban Sustainability Summit on an annual basis. As part of this support, SECO and GIZ contributed to the Thematic Conference Session 3 on Sustainable, Environmentally Friendly and Climate Resilient Urban Development.

In her welcoming remarks Ms. Sibylle Bachmann – Deputy Head of the Swiss Cooperation Office in Vietnam – reaffirmed the commitment of Switzerland to strengthen integrated and sustainable urban development in Vietnam. She further emphasized Switzerland’s focus on improving “coordination among different government agencies and regional entities”, and “bringing together agencies, donors and multilateral banks” to promote the development of resilient, environmentally friendly, and green cities in Vietnam.

The technical inputs from Dr. Patric Schlager – Team Leader on Urban Climate Resilience of MCRP - on climate-resilient urban development highlighted the importance of blue-green infrastructure development in the context of flood protection of urban areas.