The OECD-Southeast Asia Business Network Meeting took place at the Melia Hotel in Hanoi. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

Attending the event were Mr. Pham Tan Cong, Chairman of the Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI); Mr. Bernardino Moningka Vega, Rotating Chairman of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council (ASEAN BAC); Mr. Phil O'Reilly, former Chairman of the OECD Business Association (BIAC) and Co-Chair of the OECD-Southeast Asia Business Network; and more than 100 delegates who are experts, scholars and business communities from OECD countries and the Southeast Asian region.

With the theme of promoting sustainable investment, delegates focused on assessing the latest trends in this field, the opportunities and challenges facing Southeast Asia, thereby proposing policy proposals and measures to promote sustainable investment cooperation between OECD countries and Southeast Asian countries.

In his opening speech, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong stated that the world situation is currently undergoing unprecedented rapid and complex changes. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, VCCI Chairman Pham Tan Cong emphasized that attracting sustainable investment is an important goal that has a great influence on the development of each country, including Southeast Asian countries.

Global warming and climate change have negative impacts on world development. Therefore, each country, organization and business need to make efforts to harmonize the goals of economic growth and environmental protection. Today's meeting is an important opportunity for policymakers and business leaders from OECD and Southeast Asia to exchange, identify and shape trends and opportunities for sustainable investment cooperation, balancing growth and profit goals with the goals of minimizing climate impacts and protecting natural resources.

Co-Chair of the OECD-Southeast Asia Business Network Phil O'Reilly said that in the face of the worsening environmental situation, all parties need to better calculate and orient investment flows to minimize the impact of climate change. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

Mr. Phil O'Reilly expressed his delight at the positive developments in the OECD-Southeast Asia relationship, especially the fact that the Ministerial Forum was held for two consecutive years in Hanoi when Vietnam and Australia are co-chairing the OECD's Southeast Asia Program for the 2022-2025 term, creating conditions to further promote cooperation between businesses of the two sides.

The Co-Chair of the OECD-Southeast Asia Business Network reaffirmed the OECD business community's commitment to continue strengthening cooperation with the Southeast Asian region, especially in the field of sustainable development investment.

Signing ceremony of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between representatives of ASEAN BAC and BIAC. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

At the meeting, ASEAN BAC and BIAC signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation to create a framework for enhancing connectivity and improving the operational efficiency of the OECD-Southeast Asia Business Network, towards the common goal of promoting sustainable and inclusive economic development.

After the signing, delegates participated in two discussion sessions: a business roundtable and a public-private policy dialogue on sustainable investment. (Photo: Tuan Viet)

Through two roundtable discussions and policy dialogues, speakers, government representatives, and businesses from OECD and Southeast Asian countries agreed on measures to promote investment cooperation between the two sides. To turn potentials into opportunities, experts recommended: Improving the capacity of businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, to respond to climate change; focusing on investing in green research and development, skills training, and creating job opportunities in the fields of environmental protection; developing preferential policies for the development of green economy, circular economy, etc.; focusing on developing and applying science and technology in production to attract resources for sustainable development.

Rotating Chairman of the ASEAN Pak Business Advisory Council Bernardino Moningka Vega gives an interview to The Gioi and Viet Nam Newspaper (Photo: Tuan Viet)

In an interview with The World and Vietnam Newspaper, Mr. Pak Bernardino Moningka Vega - Rotating Chairman of the ASEAN Business Advisory Council affirmed that Vietnam is a model worth learning from in Southeast Asia when looking at the achievements that the country has achieved in recent times. In the coming time, OECD and Vietnam should cooperate to develop technology, build a common action framework to better support the energy transition process and investment trends, especially helping small and medium enterprises to access and contribute to this process.