After decades of quiet, Can Gio is awakening on Vietnam’s southern coast, as fresh investment and grand designs breathe new life into the once-remote district of Saigon.

HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM – Media OutReach Newswire – 27 December 2024 – Six months after the groundbreaking of a 2,870-hectare coastal urban project backed by Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest private conglomerate, Can Gio, once seen as a forgotten corner of Ho Chi Minh City, is now emerging as a new growth engine for Vietnam’s southern metropolis.

Breaking Isolation

For years, Can Gio was often left out of the city’s rapid development. Surrounded by dense forests and accessible mainly by ferry, it remained a world apart. Now, that is beginning to change.

Six months ago, the large-scale land reclamation project officially started construction. Locals call it a “game changer” that awakened a land long left behind. Along the coast that once lay quiet, a vast construction site has emerged, with heavy machinery working day and night. “I was very surprised by the speed,” said Prof. Pham Van Song, president of the Mien Dong University of Technology, noting that hundreds of hectares have already been filled and stabilized within months.

The project, developed by Vingroup through its real estate arm Vinhomes, represents one of the group’s most ambitious coastal developments, part of a long-term vision to extend Ho Chi Minh City’s urban footprint toward the sea. With billions of U.S. dollars in investment, it combines housing, tourism, and modern infrastructure within a single master plan that anchors Can Gio’s transformation.

Complementing this project, a series of major infrastructure works are also reshaping the district. By the end of 2025, the Phu My Hung–Can Gio high-speed railway, designed to reach 350 kilometers per hour, is expected to begin construction, linking the area to the city’s southern urban core. In 2026, the long-awaited Can Gio Bridge will break ground, cutting the journey to the city center to around 45 to 60 minutes.

At the same time, the Rung Sac interchange, with an investment of 3,000 billion VND (about 120 million U.S. dollars), will connect Can Gio directly with the Ben Luc–Long Thanh Expressway. Expected to be completed in 2028, it will link Can Gio with both the Southwest and Southeast regions, including Long Thanh International Airport.

In addition, a sea-crossing expressway between Can Gio and Vung Tau, 50 meters wide and proposed by Vingroup, would stretch across the sea for more than 10 kilometers. The plan envisions a wide eight-lane road that could reduce travel between Can Gio and Vung Tau to under 15 minutes, creating a strategic connection between the two coastal economies.

These efforts fit within a broader regional plan that combines road, rail, water, and sea transport. Another key project is the Can Gio International Transshipment Port, covering 571 hectares with an investment of 50,000 billion VND. The port is designed to become a new symbol of Vietnam’s maritime economy, with its first phase scheduled to begin operations in 2027 and full completion before 2045.

“A Single Project Ignites the South”

According to Prof. Pham Van Song, the rise of Can Gio is a natural development, especially with the involvement of Vingroup through its Vinhomes Green Paradise project. He believes that Can Gio is moving from an ecological area on the fringe of development to a new center of growth. “All modes of transportation will be available in Can Gio,” he said. “The district’s GRDP will grow rapidly in line with ongoing construction and investment. Both the number of residents and visitors will surge. Local people will be the first to directly benefit from these projects, and their lives will become increasingly prosperous.”

The changes are already drawing attention from investors. Dinh Minh Tuan, southern regional director of Batdongsan.com.vn, said the number of searches related to Can Gio has tripled since the beginning of the year. After the Vinhomes Green Paradise project broke ground, property interest in the district doubled again. “Just one single project has heated up the entire southern market,” he said.

Experts say this follows a familiar pattern. In the 1990s, Nguyen Van Linh Boulevard helped turn southern Ho Chi Minh City into a thriving area and drew nearly two million residents. In the 2010s, the completion of the Thu Thiem Tunnel and Bridge attracted more than one million people to the city’s east. “Investors who followed the infrastructure development wave then saw huge gains,” Tuan noted. “Can Gio now stands at a similar starting point, but with a stronger push.”

With a population of about 80,000, Can Gio has long faced a single challenge: lack of connectivity. But, “with the series of large-scale investments now under way, Can Gio is expected to grow faster than many of the city’s earlier new urban areas,” said Tuan.
Hashtag: #Vinhomes

https://vinhomes.vn/en

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The new model is designed around practical engineering workflows, with a focus on long-running task execution, stable tool calling, and multi-step reasoning, capabilities that have become increasingly important as developers deploy large language models in complex, agent-based systems.

Compared with its predecessor, GLM-4.6, GLM-4.7 shows notable gains in code generation, complex reasoning, and agent execution. According to Z.ai, the model delivers more consistent and controllable performance over extended tasks, while producing cleaner and more concise language output, addressing a common weakness in many open-source models.

To evaluate performance in realistic settings, Z.ai tested GLM-4.7 on 100 practical programming tasks in production-like environments such as Claude Code, spanning front-end, back-end, and command-execution scenarios. The company said GLM-4.7 achieved higher task completion rates and greater stability than GLM-4.6, and has since been adopted as the default model for its GLM Coding Plan.

Benchmark results also place GLM-4.7 among the strongest open-source models currently available. It scored 67.5 on BrowseComp and 87.4 on τ²-Bench, the latter marking a new high for open-source systems. In coding-focused evaluations, including SWE-bench Verified and LiveCodeBench v6, its overall performance approaches that of Claude Sonnet 4.5. In Code Arena’s large-scale blind evaluation, which aggregates votes from more than one million comparisons, GLM-4.7 ranked first among open-source models.

The model is available through the BigModel.cn API and has been integrated into Z.ai’s full-stack development platform, according to the company. As open-source models take on a more prominent role in the global technology ecosystem, Z.ai’s progress offers a clear indication of how such systems may continue to evolve, and what they might enable next.

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Try it now: https://chat.z.ai/
Weights: https://huggingface.co/zai-org/GLM-4.7
Technical blog: https://z.ai/blog/glm-4.7

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Towards the end of this year, Thailand is preparing to reignite global attention with a renewed wave of ‘Amazing Thailand.’ The government and private sector are rolling out a comprehensive set of tourism-stimulus measures that address both economic impact and national image. One of the most talked-about highlights is the appointment of Lalisa ‘Lisa’ Manobal as the new brand ambassador — not only a global-level artist, but also a powerful representation of Thailand’s contemporary image on the world stage.

Another key highlight to watch closely is the launch of the ‘Amazing Thailand Innovation Gadget’ platform, developed through a collaboration between the National Innovation Agency (Public Organisation), or NIA, and the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT). This initiative aims to elevate Thailand’s tourism industry into the era of Smart Tourism in a tangible and comprehensive way.

The platform is designed to function as Thailand’s first-ever tourism innovation repository, bringing together tourism-related technologies and solutions in one centralised space. These range from route-planning technologies, accommodation booking systems, and tourist-data management, to experience-creation tools that personalise journeys and enhance engagement. More than a simple innovation directory, the platform represents a turning point — a mechanism that connects entrepreneurs, developers, and creative talents to co-create new ‘Amazing’ experiences, spanning the entire traveller journey from trip planning to the final moment of travel for visitors worldwide.

Learning from Global Leaders Where Tourism Meets Technology

The world has entered an era where tourism is no longer driven solely by beautiful destinations and cultural heritage. Instead, competitiveness increasingly depends on experiences and technology. As a result, many countries are rapidly upgrading their tourism sectors to become smarter, more emotionally engaging, and better aligned with the expectations of modern travellers.

Japan, for example, stands as a model of cultural-innovation integration, leveraging anime, music, cuisine, and fashion as globally recognisable soft power. Recently, the Japanese government has rebooted efforts to fuse cultural roots with advanced technology through initiatives such as Virtual Remix Japan, which enables global audiences to participate in art exhibitions, festivals, and anime worlds in real time via VR and AR. This exemplifies a seamless blend of past and future.

Meanwhile, South Korea has aggressively combined technology and tourism to enhance attractiveness and vibrancy. The country actively promotes start-ups offering cloud-based hotel-management platforms, real-time translation technologies, blockchain services for international tourists, and platforms linking tourism with overseas education. South Korea has also built a tourism ecosystem that integrates smart cities, digital technology, and contemporary culture, using K-pop artists as a major driving force.

In Barcelona, Spain, one of Europe’s leading smart cities, tourism has been elevated through intelligent urban and visitor-experience management. From smart traffic systems and energy-saving public bike services to big-data-driven analysis of tourist behaviour, visitors can plan accommodation, restaurants, and travel routes through a single integrated application. This approach creates a balanced coexistence between tourism and urban life. Together, these examples demonstrate that technology is no longer merely a supporting tool, but the core differentiator in the modern tourism economy.

Amazing Thailand Innovation Gadget: Elevating Thai Tourism Through a Fully Integrated Innovation Ecosystem

NIA and TAT have officially announced a landmark collaboration with the launch of the ‘Amazing Thailand Innovation Gadget’ platform, which serves as Thailand’s first tourism innovation repository. The initiative aims to propel Thai tourism fully into the Smart Tourism era.

The platform aggregates tourism-related technologies and innovative solutions from start-ups and entrepreneurs nationwide, enabling real-world deployment across the entire Thai tourism value chain. Its objective is to build a strong tourism-innovation ecosystem through integrated collaboration across all sectors, while enhancing entrepreneurs’ capacity to apply innovation and technology suited to the specific contexts of different destinations.

This approach is designed to create premium tourism experiences for both domestic and international travellers, delivering sustainable economic and social benefits for Thailand. Importantly, the country will gain a continuously expandable tourism-innovation repository, strengthening long-term competitiveness in the global tourism market.

From Creative Power and Culture to Driving Thailand’s Tourism Economy

Dr. Krithpaka Boonfueng, Executive Director of the National Innovation Agency, stated that the innovations featured on the platform will primarily be Travel Tech-related technologies. The platform is open to start-ups, entrepreneurs, developers, and business partners with the interest and capability to co-create elevated tourism experiences while advancing Thailand’s Smart Tourism ecosystem.

Currently, NIA supports and has incubated more than 80 high-potential tourism-technology start-ups and entrepreneurs, spanning areas such as community-based tourism (Local Alike), hospitality solutions (Ascend Travel), urban mobility (MuvMi), social impact marketplaces (SocialGiver), and backend customer-journey management systems (Appointment Anywhere). These solutions enable entrepreneurs and developers to access tools tailored to their specific contexts.

NIA believes that all stakeholders play a vital role in elevating Thailand’s tourism industry by integrating technology with creativity, culture, and local identity. This integration goes beyond artists, cuisine, or traditional culture, extending into tangible, scalable innovations that create new economic value for local communities.

Thai – Tech – Tourism: A Major Integrated Leap Forward

Dr Krithpaka further noted that tourism is one of the core engines of the global economy, particularly following recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. According to data from the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), in 2024 the global travel and tourism sector contributed USD 10.9 trillion, or 10% of global GDP, and supported 357 million jobs worldwide.

The United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism) has emphasised that innovation is a critical driver of economic growth, enabling new business models, attracting investment, and differentiating destinations through unique tourism formats.

Another crucial factor not to be overlooked is the global TravelTech investment ecosystem, which remains robust. In the post-pandemic era, major tourism companies have increased technology investment by an average of 14% in 2024, reflecting strong confidence in technology as a competitive advantage.

Key areas of investment focus include Smarter Retailing and Personalisation, which deliver highly tailored customer experiences; GenAI and Autonomous Agents, next-generation AI capable of analysing, planning, and executing tasks independently — such as automated travel recommendations, trip planning, and booking management; and Sustainability, with growing investment in start-ups that reduce carbon emissions through diverse solutions.

These global trends align closely with the capabilities and diversity of Thai start-ups, positioning Thailand to connect seamlessly with international movements and deliver truly tangible ‘Amazing’ experiences.

NIA stands ready to connect knowledge, technology, and innovation capital across public agencies, private enterprises, and Thai start-ups to drive concrete outcomes in the tourism-innovation ecosystem. This effort extends beyond enhancing tourism businesses; it represents the creation of a future-oriented industry that fuses creativity and culture with technological power.

Through this integrated approach, Thailand aims to elevate economic value, cultural richness, and sustainability — and to advance decisively towards becoming a Global Innovation Tourism Hub in a meaningful and lasting way.
Hashtag: #NIA #NationalInnovationAgency

https://www.nia.or.th/

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