Speaking at the opening ceremony of the workshop on urban railway system development, Chairman of Hanoi People's Committee Tran Sy Thanh emphasized that Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are two special cities, two economic "locomotives" of the whole country, playing the role of economic, cultural, scientific and security-defense centers, and are also the two cities with the largest area and population in the country.

Along with the development trend, public transport plays an increasingly important role, especially for large cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, in which the urban railway system is considered the "backbone" of the transport infrastructure network.

According to the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee, early investment and effective operation of the urban railway system will increase the proportion of public passenger transport, reduce personal vehicles, thereby bringing positive effects in socio-economic development, minimizing environmental pollution, traffic congestion and accidents...

In recent times, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City have been devoting resources to investing in the construction of urban railway projects. However, the implementation process still faces many difficulties and challenges, requiring continued research on solutions, improvement of mechanisms and policies; learning and studying new experiences and methods, "breakthroughs" to synchronously deploy and soon complete the urban railway network according to Conclusion No. 49 of the Politburo, meeting the needs and expectations of the people of the two cities.

Mr. Tran Sy Thanh said that the workshop aimed at 3 goals, including: exchanging, researching, and absorbing international experience from countries with developed public transport infrastructure systems, especially urban railway systems; synthesizing domestic and international experiences to research, build, and perfect institutions on urban development in the direction of public transport (TOD); planning, urban construction, land, investment, management, operation and exploitation of urban railways.

Also at the workshop, Mr. Bui Xuan Cuong, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee (co-chair) agreed with the opinions of the Chairman of the Hanoi People's Committee and said that if the urban railway network is still built in the same way as before, it will be very difficult to achieve the goal.

"Therefore, the leaders of the two cities have determined to coordinate closely and decisively, creating breakthroughs in the construction of urban railways associated with TOD; mobilizing resources, resettlement, selecting technology... Urban railways are not only a transportation project but also closely linked to economic development," Mr. Cuong emphasized.