As the capital city of Vietnam, home to 7.9 million people, Hanoi has a multi-layered culture with creativity at its heart. The city is embracing a new economic and urban development model driven by creative design, which honors both its youthful population, its craft heritage and the growth of technology. Every year, Hanoi sees some 5,000 new graduates within design and technology fields - with an increasing number of initiatives fostering youth talent. In 2018, Hanoi’s creative industries contributed around $US 1.49 billion to its Gross Regional Domestic Product, accounting for 3.7 per cent.

Hanoi hosts the Annual Conference on Investment & Development Cooperation; VietBuild Hanoi invites creative designers from 18 countries to exhibit examples of smart tech, architecture and infrastructure, whilst the international art exhibition ‘Hanoi March Connecting’ puts the spotlight on creative practice, and, in particular, Hanoi’s schools of art and design. The Hanoi Festival of Creative Design, an annual event, encompasses a series of activities for industry professionals and the public, highlighting the innovations in creative design from within Hanoi and across the globe.

The city is investing $US 1.2 billion in socio-cultural development, with numerous projects supporting design events including the Vietnam Festival of Media and Design presented by RMIT in collaboration with UNESCO and VICAS; and film events like Hanoi International Film Festival; as well as creative design events from museums, galleries and cultural spaces. An equally important priority is using design to promote and protect Hanoi’s cultural heritage. This will be achieved by creating collaborations between contemporary designers and artisans to develop products for new markets, enhancing branding, and developing a contemporary approach to display and curation.