Exchanging and cooperating with Seongdong district (Seoul, South Korea), Tuy Hoa city has gained more experience in operating smart city and green city; simultaneously, promoting trade to bring distinctive local seafood to the Korean market.

Tuy Hoa City and Seongdong District cooperate in the spirit of comprehensive strategic partnership between Vietnam and Korea.

The delegation from Seongdong District (Seoul, South Korea) taking a commemorative photo with the students of Tuy Hoa - Seongdong Friendship Kindergarten during their recent visit and working session in Tuy Hoa City

13-Year Partnership Journey

In 2012, Tuy Hoa City and Seongdong District signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation and exchange, officially establishing the foundation for their bilateral relationship. Since then, this partnership has yielded significant milestones. In 2014, the Tuy Hoa-Seongdong Friendship Kindergarten was put into use. In 2019, both sides signed an agreement to further strengthen their friendship and cooperation, marking a new phase of development. In 2024, a delegation of businesses from Seongdong District visited Tuy Hoa City to explore opportunities in tuna fishing and seafood exports.

According to the People's Committee of Tuy Hoa City, the Tuy Hoa - Seongdong Friendship Kindergarten commenced construction in 2012 on a 1,300 m² site, with a total budget of 1.4 billion VND. Of this, Seongdong District contributed 800 million VND, the rest was local reciprocal capital. More recently, Seongdong District provided an additional 80 million VND to support the school's operational fund. In the process of cooperation from 2012 to 2019, the two localities focused on maintaining the relationship, creating an understanding of the cultural traditions of the two countries. By 2019, the two sides will strengthen the cooperative relationship, in which the agreement focuses on cooperation in the fields of mutual interest, including tourism, construction, and public transport, in the spirit of exchanging experiences and sharing information associated with on-demand meetings.

After the visit of the delegation of Tuy Hoa City to Seongdong District, in 2024-2025, Tuy Hoa City welcomed two Korean seafood enterprises, Taewon Trade Company and Pungny-eon-Chuksan Company, and the delegation of Seongdong District to Tuy Hoa, Phu Yen to explore seafood processing activities associated with tuna - a signature product of the locality. Korean enterprises directly go to Ba Hai Joint Stock Company, Trang Thuy Seafood Company Limited, and Hong Ngoc Seafood Company Limited to learn, thereby creating a premise to promote seafood exports in the coming time.

Four times visiting Tuy Hoa as the Chief of Seongdong District, Mr. Chong Won-O said, Coming to Tuy Hoa 10 years ago, then 6 years, and now today, I can truly witness the rapid transformation of the city. This development has been contributed to by rich aquatic resources, stunning coastlines, and well-implemented government policies. I hope this relationship will continue to strengthen, laying a solid premise to enhance cooperation between the two localities on the basis of benefits for both parties.

Learning and development

As a member of the delegation visiting Seongdong District, Mr Nguyen Khoa Khang, Head of the Economics, Infrastructure, and Urban Affairs Department of Tuy Hoa City, shared: Going to Seongdong District, I had the opportunity to experience various smart city utilities, including drainage systems, bus shelters, smoking spaces... which are automatically operated in association with digital technology. This is a model that can be learned for the future development of the Tuy Hoa urban area.

Seongdong District, located north of the Han River, is one of Seoul's central districts. The outstanding achievement of this locality is the application of technology in smart urban development and building the district into a green space. Comrade Cao Dinh Huy, Chairman of Tuy Hoa City People's Committee, said the Han River lies at the heart of Seongdong District. Seongdong's orientation is to develop into a smart, green, and sustainable city. These similarities present valuable lessons for Tuy Hoa as it strives for development along the Ba River. In particular, the whole space of the Seongdong district is designed according to the "5-minute garden city" model, which means that the green spaces are evenly distributed and people can access the green space within 5 minutes no matter where they are in the district.

“In the development planning, Tuy Hoa city enhances the green spaces for public spaces, prioritizes the land fund for parks and green public works, integrates forests into urban areas, and links the Ba River with the city's core development. The city is gradually managing and operating in association with digital technology... All of this is concretized by the project of planting 2 million trees in Tuy Hoa city, putting the Smart Urban Operation Center into operation... Tuy Hoa city has just been recognized as a Green, Clean, and Beautiful City by the Association of Cities of Vietnam. This is a recognition of the efforts of the city in the process of efforts toward sustainable urban development", Comrade Cao Dinh Huy informed.