Your Excellency, Mr. Lê Trí Thanh, Chairman of the Hue City People’s Committee,

Colleagues from Canada Embassy, distinguished guests and colleagues in Hue City!  

It’s an honor to join you today for the signing of this new Memorandum of Understanding between UNDP and the Hue City People’s Committee.

Hue City and UNDP have been long-term partners. Our previous MOU, signed for the period of 2020-2025, has enabled us to deliver significant results in areas such as climate resilience and environmental protection, the promotion of a circular economy, digital governance, mine action, and improved access to essential services. 

Our joint achievements are tangible and range from the construction of 526 climate-resilient houses for vulnerable households; to the release of land once suspected of contamination from explosive ordnance so that it can support farmers’ livelihoods and economic growth; to the restoration of 22 ha of mangroves that strengthen both coastal ecosystems and community resilience.

But at a time when both Hue and Viet Nam are undergoing profound transformations, our own partnership must also evolve, so we can best support Hue in managing emerging and interconnected development challenges. 

Cities across the world are facing increasingly complex challenges, from climate change and rapid urbanization to economic transition, environmental pressures, and technological change. Effective urban management today requires not only infrastructure investments but also stronger use of data to understand how residents experience services, public spaces, and development priorities.

Together with challenges, we are presented with important opportunities to rethink how development is planned and delivered at the local level and how cities can become greener, more resilient, and inclusive engines for the growth of the country.

Hue occupies a unique place in Viet Nam's history and identity. It is a city renowned for its cultural heritage, rich traditions, and exceptional natural environment. And as Hue enters a new stage of development following its transition to a centrally governed city in 2025, its future lies not in choosing between preservation and development, but in ensuring that preservation becomes part of development.

This is an opportunity for the city to become a model for future-ready urban governance in Viet Nam by combining digital innovation, citizen-centred services, climate resilience and evidence-based planning.

This new Memorandum of Understanding marks the beginning of a new chapter in our strategic partnership, one where UNDP and Hue City deliberately move beyond ad hoc collaboration through individual projects, towards an integrated strategic framework and offer that brings together climate resilience, green economic transition, effective governance and human security.

For the next five years, we have jointly identified seven (07) priorities for cooperation, brought together around three key pillars:

- Inclusive and people-centred governance: strengthening women’s leadership and gender equality, improving accessible and responsive public services, and ensuring that vulnerable groups are not left behind; 

- Digital transformation and innovation: harnessing data, AI and emerging technologies to strengthen public administration and improve service delivery and accessibility, and fostering innovative solutions to the city’s development challenges; and

- Climate resilience, sustainable development and human security: integrating climate and disaster resilience with mine action, biodiversity, circular economy and sustainable livelihoods.

These priorities reflect the integrated approach we want to pursue, connecting people, prosperity, and planet through strong governance mechanisms, rather than addressing development challenges in isolation. 

For UNDP, Hue stands out as a valued strategic partner, and our commitment is to work together to ensure that the city's development is not only fast, but also inclusive, resilient, sustainable, and people-centred, turning our shared priorities into concrete actions and tangible results for the people of Hue.

Thank you, and I look forward to an even stronger partnership in the years ahead!