The Association of Vietnamese Cities(ACVN) has stated that it will focus on intensifying internationalcooperation to encourage sustainable urban development.

At a press briefing on Nov. 2 in preparation for the second VietnameseCities Day (Nov. 8), the association said that it has launched anEU-funded project to increase community involvement and the Statemanagement of urban centres in Vietnam, which will last for 30 monthswith 30 urban centres taking part.

The project will design a training programme for urban officials and develop a training centre for the ACVN.

According to the association, the five Vietnamese urban centres of NamDinh, Tuy Hoa, Lang Son, Vung Tau and Ninh Binh have been taking partin cooperation programmes with five Canadian cities.

These programmes focus on using advanced information technologies inland and housing registration and tax collection, improving wastemanagement in urban centres, encouraging community participation intourist development, and generating jobs for migrants.

The ACVN has expanded its ties with various other internationalorganisations and associations in cities in Canada, Germany and theRepublic of Korea.

It also takes part in activities held by the United Cities and LocalGovernments (UCLG) organisation and has been working with the AsianCoalition for Housing Rights (ACHR) to develop urban housing funds.

Vietnam currently has 747 cities and major towns and a new town is bornalmost every month. The urban population is expected to increase from27 percent of the national population at present to 45 percent by 2020./.