Issuing Unit: Department of Planning
On December 2 (local time), the Yunlin County Government delegation, led by Director Li Ming-Yue of the Department of Planning, traveled to Binh Duong, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam to attend the 2025 Global Summit Forum organized by the Ho Chi Minh City Government, Becamex, and the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF). The event gathered city representatives and industry pioneers from Vietnam, Canada, the United States, Brazil, Spain, the Netherlands, and Turkey. In addition to presentations by the Top7 cities of the year, the summit featured panel discussions for cross-sector, cross-city, and cross-border exchanges on public policy, urban economy, and community engagement.
The summit opened under the joint hosting of ICF co-founders John G. Jung and Robert Bell. In his opening remarks, Robert Bell emphasized that the essence of a smart city lies not in technology itself but in applying innovative thinking to solve real urban challenges. John G. Jung noted that smart city development in 2025 has entered the “accelerated implementation” phase, with cities worldwide moving from planning to concrete execution. This year’s theme, “Smart Upgrade, Investment Ready: Vietnam’s Economic Transformation,” reflects this trend, and Binh Duong’s recognition as ICF’s Top1 Smart City in 2023 exemplifies this pathway.
Representatives from Taiwan’s Economic Division at the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Ho Chi Minh City, including Section Chief Chen Zong-Yu and Secretary Zhang Yi-Feng, attended the opening session and met with the Yunlin delegation. They exchanged information on Ho Chi Minh City and Binh Duong and facilitated introductions to Becamex representatives for further discussions. The county government expressed sincere gratitude for their support, which made the visit warm and well-coordinated.
In the afternoon, Director Li Ming-Yue participated in the panel discussion “Talk Less; Implement More: Accelerating Innovation,” engaging with city and industry representatives from the U.S., the Netherlands, and Turkey. He shared Yunlin’s recent policies and practical cases, illustrating how the county embodies the spirit of “less talk, more action” through innovative thinking and cross-sector integration. These efforts have successfully advanced local revitalization, smart agriculture, and AI knowledge model projects, transforming Yunlin’s enterprises, communities, and youth into a dynamic local ecosystem with innovation and growth potential.
Li highlighted that Yunlin, an agricultural county with a population of about 650,000, has long faced challenges such as widening urban-rural gaps and population outflow. Traditional governance models can no longer cope with today’s rapidly changing environment, prompting the county to accelerate action through technology and cross-domain collaboration. Yunlin is building an “AI-driven community knowledge model,” converting years of policy documents, local plans, and success stories into an AI knowledge base. This system helps civil servants and local stakeholders quickly complete data collection, draft proposals, stakeholder analysis, and risk assessments, significantly shortening the time from “planning” to “execution.”
In implementing “Talk Less; Implement More,” Yunlin focuses on three areas:
Integrating resources across industry, government, and academia to create one-stop service and support platforms, enabling professional teams to leverage AI tools for better planning and execution efficiency.
Encouraging rediscovery of local culture, industries, and community energy, ensuring actions start from authentic local voices.
Starting with small projects and visible improvements to build trust, gradually shaping a local culture of “daring to think and act.”
In smart agriculture, Yunlin was named one of ICF’s Top7 Smart Cities globally in 2024. The county has established over ten smart agricultural sites, including smart greenhouses and intelligent poultry houses, attracting international attention. Through the Smart Agriculture University, Yunlin trains modern farmers with technical, branding, and business skills, creating replicable innovation models. The Smart Agriculture Innovation Subsidy Program supports youth and agribusinesses in adopting time-saving, labor-efficient smart equipment. The county also promotes the “Yunlin Good Products” brand for joint marketing of local produce, enhancing global visibility and trust. Collaborations with Yunlin University of Science and Technology and National Formosa University’s incubation centers ensure good ideas become real opportunities for local employment and entrepreneurship. Finally, by integrating AI knowledge systems with rural regeneration projects, Yunlin is building long-term trust-based community ecosystems, enabling enterprises, communities, and youth initiatives to take root and thrive, showcasing resilience and innovation in local governance.
When asked, “How do you ensure continuity of projects and values amid political cycles and leadership changes?” Li stressed that the key is to root projects in local ecosystems and knowledge systems rather than individual figures. Yunlin empowers enterprises, communities, and citizens, fostering long-term development while building cross-departmental databases and local knowledge-sovereignty AI systems to preserve, transmit, and amplify experience. He noted that Yunlin’s initiatives, “City GPT” and “YUNLIN GPT,” are not just information systems but foundational governance infrastructure—like roads, water, and internet—supporting innovation in areas such as age-friendly services, public health alerts, agricultural data analysis, and disaster risk management. Yunlin is taking concrete steps to establish global smart city networks, aiming to elevate local values internationally and open new chapters for global cooperation.
The summit featured representatives from ICF’s Top7 Smart Cities for 2025: Assai (Brazil), Bursa (Turkey), Durham Region (Canada), Fairfield (USA), Hilliard (USA), Kingston (Canada), and Las Rozas (Spain). Despite differences in scale and context, these cities share a commitment to leveraging innovation for competitiveness and social well-being.
Among them, Bursa Metropolitan Municipality showcased its smart city achievements. Once the capital of the Ottoman Empire and the terminus of the Silk Road, Bursa now boasts a population of over 3.2 million and a strong manufacturing base, making it a key hub for Turkey’s smart city and green transition initiatives. These include 5G infrastructure, AI traffic management, green open data platforms, and innovation incubation centers. Bursa’s vision, “Smile, you are in Bursa,” aims to create a “smiling city and smiling future.” The city government actively engages with citizens, responding to over 4,800 requests through on-site visits, ensuring smart city efforts translate into tangible care for residents. This approach earned Bursa a spot among ICF’s Top7 Smart Cities in 2025.
SDGs 17: Partnerships for the Goals – Strengthen global partnerships to promote sustainable development.