On 27 October 2026, TDGI co-organized the session Tech Diplomacy for Megacities: How Cities Turn Technology Partnerships into Growth at the Autumn Economic Forum 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City. The forum was organized by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee and the HCMC Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with the World Economic Forum.
Megacities now negotiate directly with global technology companies, host the data centers the digital economy runs on, and make decisions on land, energy, water and data governance. Those decisions determine whether a partnership builds lasting local capability or lasting dependence. The session looked at how these partnerships are built in practice: who negotiates them, what a city can pursue on its own, and where it needs its national government.
H.E. Philipp Agathonos, Ambassador of Austria to Viet Nam, opened with a keynote. Dr. Sïmon Saneback, Chief Operating Officer of TDGI, moderated the panel with Ayumi Moore Aoki, Assoc. Nguyen Anh Thi, Prof. Wesley Rosslyn-Smith, Emilie Esparon and Dr. Sandy Chong of the World Economic Forum.
