Global trends – inevitable choice

Speaking at the seminar "Green Growth - Global Trend, Inevitable Choice" organized by the Government Electronic Information Portal on November 28, 2024, Director - Director of the Department of Science, Education, Natural Resources and Environment, Ministry of Planning and Investment, Mr. Le Viet Anh said that green growth is an extremely important orientation for Vietnam's socio-economic development in the coming years. Accordingly, the Government has issued the National Strategy on Green Growth for the period 2021-20230 and vision to 2025, and the Government has also issued the National Action Plan on Green Growth for the period 2021-2030. Ministries, branches and localities have also issued or integrated tasks and solutions on green growth into their socio-economic development plans. This shows that Vietnam identifies green growth as a very important orientation for the socio-economy in the next period. All relevant parties have the responsibility and obligation to participate in the green growth process of the national economy.

Sustainable development is not only a trend but also a mandatory requirement for Vietnamese enterprises that want to reach out to the world market because export goods and large, demanding markets always require environmental and carbon certificates. Therefore, Vietnamese enterprises that want to reach out to the world and affirm their Vietnamese brands need to clearly recognize the inevitability of the green and sustainable development process.

Sharing about this issue, Mr. Quach Quang Dong - Deputy Director of the Department of Energy Saving and Sustainable Development, Ministry of Industry and Trade said that Vietnam has now joined new generation free trade agreements such as the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the Vietnam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), the Vietnam-UK Free Trade Agreement (UKVFTA)... These new generation free trade agreements all have commitments on the rate of eliminating import tariffs for countries participating in the Agreement, which can be up to 100%. This will create challenges for developed countries in protecting domestic production from competition in production costs from developing countries, including Vietnam, which have advantages in lower labor costs, lower energy costs as well as environmental standards.

The Deputy Director of the Department of Energy Conservation and Sustainable Development also said that Vietnamese enterprises need to drastically innovate their thinking and strategies to meet the requirements of sustainable development and "green" growth.

To support the transformation programs of enterprises towards green and sustainable development, the Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have developed and implemented many direct support programs such as the national program on energy saving and efficiency, period 2019-2030, the national program on sustainable production and consumption, period 2021-2030 as well as the Plan to respond to climate change and green growth to 2030 with a vision to 2050. These programs aim to support enterprises in transforming towards efficient use of resources, fuels, energy as well as towards low emissions in the production and business process.

“Vietnamese enterprises should strive, be proactive and persistent in innovating and transforming towards a “green” and sustainable direction; build a long-term development strategy, and continue to accompany, respond to and support programs of the Government and the Ministry of Industry and Trade,” said Mr. Quach Quang Dong.

Present in Vietnam since 1995, Nestlé Vietnam has always committed to long-term investment and sustainable development of Vietnam with the vision of becoming "A global company with local connections, pioneering in sustainable development". Nestlé Group always attaches importance to the principles of sustainable development in production and business activities associated with the implementation of social responsibility. Mr. Binu Jacob, General Director of Nestlé Vietnam Company said that in all activities and projects, Nestlé always considers sustainability throughout the value chain. “One of the most active industries today is coffee. We always ensure that the coffee Nestlé purchases from producers in Vietnam is of high quality and produced sustainably. Through the NESCAFÉ Plan, Nestlé has supported more than 21,000 coffee farming households to switch to regenerative agriculture, helping to reduce 20% of chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and save 40-60% of irrigation water,” shared the General Director of Nestlé Vietnam.

In addition, Nestlé has made a strong commitment to developing sustainable packaging. Currently, nearly 95% of Nestlé's packaging in Vietnam has been designed to be recyclable. In addition, the company also applies energy-efficient solutions such as renewable energy, biomass energy, heat recovery solutions and efficient energy use, etc.

Steadfast in sustainable direction

However, in reality, due to many objective and subjective reasons, the number of large enterprises and corporations investing towards the goal of sustainable development and green growth that really care about "quality" is not much.

In the green growth process, in addition to the direct or indirect support role of the State through policy mechanisms, the proactive grasp and development of enterprises is extremely important. For this content, the State agency clearly identifies the contents that will focus on supporting enterprises. Mr. Le Viet Anh commented and said: Firstly, in terms of policy mechanisms, the Government and agencies must promptly and promptly issue full support for sustainable development and green growth. Secondly, it is necessary to mobilize sufficient financial resources for sustainable development and green growth processes to have enough resources to implement and support enterprises. Thirdly, it is necessary to increase awareness for both enterprises and people, because the final products are delivered to consumers. When consumers tend to consume green, environmentally friendly products, it will create a very strong motivation for enterprises to continue their production and business processes.

Agreeing with the above viewpoint, Mr. Quach Quang Dong also said that, in terms of mechanisms and policies, we need to have comments, analysis, and evaluation, as well as recognition, encouragement, and support to increase awareness and orientation for sustainable consumption and production, towards green and clean goods and services. It is necessary to create motivation for businesses to take the lead, pioneer, hold leading positions, and lead, thereby spreading to attract other businesses to follow.

To support businesses, the Government, ministries and sectors need to supplement and improve mechanisms and policies to respond to the new context and situation of the world, while protecting the legitimate interests of businesses, creating favorable conditions for businesses to develop and limiting risks. Further strengthen close coordination between ministries and sectors as well as between the central and local levels.

According to the Deputy Director of the Department of Energy Saving and Sustainable Development, currently, for small and medium enterprises, in order to develop in a green and sustainable direction, it is necessary to change, transform as well as upgrade and improve production technology lines. However, this also requires large investment costs, so to support enterprises, the Government needs to promote and support to exploit domestic and international resources to the maximum, including new financial sources such as green finance or carbon markets to add resources to support business development.

Furthermore, Mr. Dong also believes that the vision and strategy of a significant number of small and medium-sized enterprises are still limited, still seasonal, short-term and immediate. Therefore, to transform towards green, sustainable, and reach out to the world, businesses must have a strategic, long-term vision, ensure long-term benefits, ensure competitiveness in the context of globalization and meet the general global trend. If we do not do this, the transformation will become distant.