Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Transport Le Anh Tuan touched upon the role of smart, low-carbon transport system in building smart, sustainable and adaptable cities, while presiding over a plenary session of the 12th Intergovernmental Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport (EST) Forum in Asia in Hanoi on October 29.

At the plenary session 

Tuan also highlighted the role of sustainable transport in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and realising sustainable development goals.

Delegates looked into the EST’s future role in Asia, emerging trends of urban transport in the region, how to duplicate transport solutions with calculation of emerging trends, contributions of transport to sustainable development, and nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

A Japanese representative said a smart city needs technologies, good planning, renewable energy, and green, clean transport.

Experience and new initiatives regarding smart transport and low-carbon technologies in the transport sector presented at the forum would be applied in the participating countries, helping them complete the goal of sustainable cities and communities set in the United Nations 2030 Agenda, Tuan said.

Established by the UN in 2005, the forum is an important part of the EST initiative. The annual event aims to boost Asian countries’ awareness of environmental protection in transport sector, as well as build safer, more beautiful and sustainable urban areas and communities via effective development policies, plans and programmes.

It has 25 member countries namely Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, India, Iran, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, the Philippines, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Russia and Vietnam.