As commissioned by the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal Government, the training class for middle-level civil servants of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam was successfully held at SPI from June 18 to June 22. Ten division-level civil servants from the environment, transportation, construction, planning and other departments of Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) took part in the training.
    SHEN Wei, Member of CPC Shanghai Municipal Committee and Executive Vice President of SPI extended a warm welcome to the civil servants and introduced them the basic situation of the Institute at the opening ceremony. He said, this training would help enhance the cooperation and exchange of civil servants in municipal management sector between Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City, to ensure the success of the training course, and SPI had arranged the training contents, faculty and training approaches carefully. He hoped that through this training, the trainees would know about the great practice of building socialism with Chinese characteristics, see and experience the great achievements of the reform and opening-up in China, and exchange valuable experience in urban development.
    ZHU Weimin, Deputy Director of the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal Government, attended the opening ceremony and delivered a speech. He pointed out that Shanghai and Ho Chi Minh City had established a long-term friendship and carried out extensive exchanges and cooperation, which brought fruitful achievements; this training course was part of the implementation of the two cities’ cooperation, and would provide a new platform for civil servants of the two cities to carry out exchanges and mutual learning.
    Considering the characteristics and needs of the trainees, the training course focused on the topic of "urban planning, construction, management and development" and covered such contents by lectures on the overall planning of Shanghai Municipality, on-site teaching of emergency management and downtown transformation and innovation, visits to Shanghai Urban Planning Exhibition Center, Yu Garden and the Bund Origin, etc. as well as education on Shanghais reform and opening up spirit. All these activities were aimed to help trainees to know about the ideas of Shanghai urban development planning and Shanghai’s experience in emergency management, to feel the city’s historical profundity, cultural atmosphere and the spiritual characters of Shanghai civil servants in the reform and opening up. Besides, the trainees also visited Shanghai Municipal Housing and Urban-Rural Construction Administration to have professional and in-depth discussions and exchanges with relevant department members about the problems in urban development and planning and their countermeasures.
    YU Huiguang, Head of the training class and Head of Patrol Office, HCMC Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said that the training class was the first urban management training course attended by HCMC civil servants in Shanghai; he thanked the Foreign Affairs Office of Shanghai Municipal Government and SPI for organizing such a meaningful activity; there was much for HCMC to learn from Shanghai; discussions of the urban management problems during the training provided guidance and new way of thinking for our future work. He hoped there would be more cooperation in the future. The trainees also spoke highly of the training. They said, "I’m very excited and impressed because this is my first visit to Shanghai and the trip is full of surprises"; "The training is rich in contents and tight in schedule. Weve learned a lot and its very rewarding"; "Ho Chi Minh City and Shanghai have much in common but many differences too. The four-day trip is short and Shanghai still has much for us to see and to learn. Were reluctant to part with it. When we go home, we will introduce Shanghai to other civil servants and our families and friends"; "SPI is very beautiful. The professors are knowledgeable and the staff members are responsible. We highly appreciate their efforts".