At the working session, Mr. Au Minh Tuan - ADB's Senior Specialist for Energy Project Development, said that ADB is introducing the SEECP to six provinces and cities across Vietnam, namely Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Quang Nam, Da Nang, Lam Dong, and Can Tho. In particular, the project in Can Tho aims to help the city achieve the goals set out in the National Program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy in the period of 2019-2030 (VNEEP3) and the Project “Building a smart city in Can Tho in the period of 2018-2025, with a vision toward 2030”.

The implemented tasks under the Project will align with existing initiatives of the Government of Vietnam as well as the People's Committee of Can Tho City to achieve the planned targets.

According to Mr. Tuan, as a project focusing on energy efficiency, SEECP Can Tho aims to reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in Can Tho city in the long term, through creating a project roadmap as well as developing a smart city and energy-efficient infrastructure with LED lights and smart technology used for public lighting and public buildings. Furthermore, the project also promotes a favorable environment for efficient energy use, access to capital, capacity building, and awareness-raising.

Regarding the implementation of SEECP Can Tho, ADB proposed the components of the project scope as follows:

- Component 1 - Smart Public Lighting: Retrofit of 30,579 existing conventional streetlight fixtures (non - LED) with LEDs as well as lighting infrastructure (Arm/MCB/Service wire/Earthing). The project will not work on 7,601 existing LEDs. Can Tho City has a total of existing 38,180 lighting points.

+ Replacement of 747 old CCMS/ electrical cabinets/ feeder panels;

+ Construction of a new control center with an integration of advanced smart city features including smart lighting with high-end control systems;

+ Installation of 24,691 Greenfield lights in Can Tho City including lighting infrastructure (Arm/MCB/Service wire/Earthing);

+ Installation of 381 new smart poles (1% of total 38,180 lighting poles) with features such as Traffic monitoring and management system; CCTV camera for surveillance and monitoring, Wi-Fi and internet integration, environment monitoring (air quality, noise, temperature, humidity, etc.), panic button, public address (PA) system, electric vehicle (EV) charging, messaging display and digital billboard/signage, etc.

- Component 2 - Smart Public Buildings: To undertake retrofit of 50 public buildings in Can Tho comprising of 19 hospitals, 27 schools, and 4 office buildings based on Can Tho Energy Efficiency Action Plan and adherence to the National Energy Efficiency Building Code including rooftop solar energy; internal shading system; efficient lighting systems and controls, efficient heating, ventilation, building energy management system and air conditioning systems and controls to enhance energy saving in the public building sector.

The SEECP Can Tho will be co-financed by the Green Climate Fund (GCF) and the city, and ADB will manage the GCF’s funding sources. Particularly, the total investment for SEECP Can Tho is 67.29 million USD, equivalent to 1,561,234 million VND. Particularly, loans from Asian Development Bank account for 49%, equivalent to 32.97 million USD; loans from Green Climate Fund (GCF) account for 10.5%, equivalent to 7.07 million USD, and its grant is 10.5% equivalent to USD 7.07 million; the Government's reciprocal capital occupies 30%, equivalent to USD 20.19 million. For ODA loans, the People's Committee of Can Tho city will be the borrower/project investor. The Ministry of Finance will, on behalf of the Government of Vietnam, sign loan and financing agreements from ADB and GCF.

Mr. Nguyen Van Hong - Vice Chairman of Can Tho City People's Committee spoke at the meeting

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Van Hong, Vice Chairman of the People's Committee of Can Tho city, highly appreciated the SEECP project by ADB. He said local authorities will hold meetings to discuss the project’s components and capital, and they will notify ADB of the outcomes.

Besides, the Vice Chairman of the municipal People's Committee Nguyen Van Hong assigned the Department of Construction to be the focal point to collect the opinions of relevant departments and agencies regarding the study of SEECP's contents. Then, the municipal Department of Construction will report to the city leaders for consideration to agree on a feasible option to implement the project, to ensure compliance with the city's development policy.