Hosted by C4IR, this year’s forum is expected to see the participation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son; representatives from diplomatic and consular missions, domestic and international businesses; around 500 senior guests from financial institutions, international organisations, innovation centres, multinational corporations; experts and policymakers, and key figures leading global green transition and digital transformation.

Duy said this highlights the forum’s scale and significant influence on leaders, experts, and businesses, both domestically and internationally.

Stephan Mergenthaler, CEO of the World Economic Forum (WEF), along with officials from the WEF’s agencies, will attend in person and co-organise key activities, including parallel sessions on smart production, and a high-level policy dialogue with the Vietnamese PM.

Notably, the CEO 500 – Tea Connect programme will serve as a high-level dialogue platform between the Vietnamese government, the municipal authorities, and over 500 domestic and international business leaders, focusing on public-private partnerships, green investment, technological innovation, and modern urban governance. The forum will also showcase key projects seeking investment.

Nguyen Loc Ha, Vice Chairman of the municipal People’s Committee and head of the organising board, said this year’s event is set to take place from November 25-27, focusing its discussions on green growth and digital transformation.

He stressed this also marks Ho Chi Minh City’s new development agenda, serving not just as a topic for discussion but as a call for action and a guide for planning and implementation.

According to Ha, the world is shifting to a completely new competitive landscape, where advantages are determined not by natural resources, capital, or labour costs, but by technological ecosystems, innovation capacity, and global-standard sustainability. In this era, national strength is measured not by the “scale of investment expansion”, but by the speed of knowledge creation, knowledge transformation, and turning technology into value.

With its expanded development space, Ho Chi Minh City must show transformation capabilities worthy of its role as the nation’s central megacity, Ha said. He emphasised that the city should not only follow global trends but also set Viet Nam’s new development standards based on a knowledge economy, advanced science and technology, and sustainable growth aligned with net zero goals and the global green transition.