In a two-day seminar hosted by the Lam Dong People’s Committee and Trung Nguyen Coffee Co., many foreign and local experts discussed ways to turn the highland resort town of Da Lat into a green valley to promote biotechnology, and an information technology hub in Vietnam.

Since 2004, the central highland province of Lam Dong has planned to construct a scientific park as in Finland as part of the developing process of its intellectual economy.
A two-day seminar on the topic, which opened in Da Lat on July 14, proposed to turn Da Lat highland resort town into a "green valley", which is believed to be a key step for joining developed cities worldwide, in accordance with European standards.

Doctor Thai Quang Trung, a member of Germany’s Hans Seidel Foundation Organization, said because Vietnam is now ready to develop on a large scale, the country should carry out an urgent plan to establish a new generation of comprehensive cities, which can keep up with the general trend of the world’s intellectual economy.
Saying that Da Lat is one of the cities owning sufficient conditions for further development, Mr. Trung suggested three major issues as guidelines for the sustainable development of the capital city of the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.
They included the building of Da Lat into a garden city, an intelligence city or a green valley. Particularly, these suggestions have been mapped out and tabled for over the past five to ten years.
Mrs. Tara Kimbrell Cole, Director of Singaporean Synovations Pte, said only with creativity and new trading models of high competitiveness can Da Lat city sharpen its significant character as a "university city", a "resort center" serving tourism and biotechnological industries, aiming at harmoniously combining the local and foreign cultural values. This will help not only Da Lat city but also the whole country surpass other regional countries in modernization.
Da Lat was one of the first cities of Vietnam launching its function as a resort center since establishment in 1893. The highland town has also become known as a garden city.
Besides, Da Lat also already owns a lot of well-known educational and training centers, among which were the Indochina Architecture Sub-Institute, the Da Lat University Institute, the Da Lat Nuclear Reaction Pile, etc.
Recently, with many remarkable achievements, Da Lat has been leading the country in applying modern biotechnology to producing commercial vegetables and flowers. The town is currently promoting its advantages. Da Lat Hasfarm Company, for instance, is the leading flower producer and exporter of Vietnam with a wide range of products including rose, chrysanthemum, gerbera, lily, limonium, gypsophila, carnation, cut foliages, cut leaves, floral foam, and fillers.
Thanks to the Da Lat Nuclear Reaction Pile and the Da Lat Biology Sub-Institute, some recent achievements in the cloning technology have been brought into full play and become a popular trend in Da Lat’s agriculture. Building a high-tech agricultural industry is one of Lam Dong province’s major projects, which is always in top priority of investment.
In the coming time, Da Lat will focus on the development of resort and tourism industry, taking this as one of its best advantages.
Accordingly, a master planning project named "Dan Kia-Suoi Vang", which draws high attention of Japanese investors, is aimed to build a "Romantic Da Lat". The project, in which many traditional wooden Japanese stilt-houses and pretty villas will be designed in French styles in a green area with lakes and gardens, will help promote as well as harmoniously combine the traditional values of Asia and Europe.

( Source: Liberated Saigon)