Green transformation, digital transformation are not shiny jewelry for companies to wear

"The story of sustainable development, green transformation and digital transformation is a long-term story," said Ms. Le Thi Hoai Thuong, Senior External Affairs Manager, Nestlé Vietnam; at the Sustainable Development Conference 2024, organized by Dau Tu newspaper on the morning of November 12, in Hanoi.

According to Ms. Le Thi Hoai Thuong, Senior External Relations Manager, Nestlé Vietnam, the theme of the second session of the Workshop is "Taking the Lead"; we talk about leading the trend, however, when each company is determined to fulfill its commitment to sustainable development, it does not actually set the goal of leading the trend. "Sustainable development, green transformation and digital transformation are not shiny jewelry for companies to put on and say we are doing this or that; but in fact it is a matter of investment, of optimizing resources, of efficiency. And the important thing here is that each business will determine the problem it wants to solve and its priorities, not what the current trend is. The businesses that are chosen to sit here today, when called trend-leading businesses, pioneering businesses, this is a guarantee that we have chosen correctly, the path we are taking has been effective within a certain limit. But from the beginning, no business has raised the issue of its investment and sustainable development to lead a certain trend," Ms. Le Thi Hoai Thuong emphasized.

Also according to Ms. Le Thi Hoai Thuong, in this conference, many speakers mentioned financial issues, industries that require large investments such as real estate, mining, or the hot issue now is e-commerce; but on the contrary, many speakers were also interested in the story of sustainable development, digital transformation, green transformation, how to be inclusive, no one is left behind; this is truly a big challenge. "One thing that Nestle is very proud of is that we have been able to fulfill our commitments and plans very early, for example, we have worked with coffee farmers to fulfill our commitment to responsible purchasing. Since 2010-2011, we have been doing this and this is a long-term commitment of Nestle, which will last until 2025 and until 2030. And the story of digital transformation and green transformation was also raised very early, when Vietnam did not yet have trends or terms about digital transformation and green transformation... So what problem does our approach to farmers here solve? The problem is, for a food company, raw materials from agriculture play a very important role, how to have a long-term, stable source of raw materials, ensure quality and meet environmental criteria, now with additional criteria on waste. Nestle does not only purchase for production in the market "Not only in the domestic market, but also for export, for example to European countries; if we do not prepare early, when regulations are issued, our value chains will face difficulties and be disrupted. Thus, the story of investment efficiency, of resource optimization, must be calculated over a long-term process of more than ten years; not just the one year we invest," Ms. Le Thi Hoai Thuong analyzed.

"In this issue, we approach the farmer-centered approach. When farmers change their awareness, it will lead to a change in behavior, and they will have sustainable agricultural practices on their fields. How does the digital transformation story support the green transformation story of farmers? When we approached small and medium enterprises, micro enterprises, or farmers... very early, the result is that farmers now practice very well and we can proudly call them entrepreneurial farmers. Farmers now know how to use the apps that we have coordinated with other parties, research organizations, and farmers to develop systems called agricultural diaries. On these apps, they will convert all daily records, from revenue and expenditure, from input to output... At the same time, the first thing is to prove to farmers that this conversion brings them profits first: They reduce the amount of water input, they reduce the amount of fertilizer input, etc. In this way, they increase productivity, they reduce investment and they optimize profits... That is what convinces farmers to change their behavior. If we only talk about things that are very far away, farmers will never be able to change their behavior to accompany us.

When we have invested in a systematic and long-term way like that, then in the next stage, the requirements become higher and higher, for example, in applying UDA, when we export to the European market, we have to prove the origin, we have to prove that this coffee is grown on land without causing deforestation, deforestation... Applying digital transformation very early helps farmers to be very confident that I can prove the origin of the product like this, and step by step, and even when calculating the emissions per kilogram of coffee produced in Vietnam, exported to demanding markets, it is also a tool for farmers to apply from the beginning and support farmers and thereby, on the basis of common values. That means that manufacturers like Nestle also benefit from having a sustainable, stable and low-emission source of raw materials. Farmers also benefit from being more proactive, they can catch up with trends, more stringent requirements in difficult markets. And now we also see that the position of Vietnamese coffee is very good.

That is, we have to look at what our problem is, how we approach it, and we must always have companionship and cooperation with scientists, with state management agencies, with those who directly implement it here, which are farmers and producers. When we have such a synchronous approach, it will... maybe as we said here today, it creates a trend and those who approach it from the beginning will be the pioneers. But from the beginning, we do not ask whether we need to create a trend but what problem it is solving for all parties. Whether the commitment and sustainable development goals are successful or not depends on the chain being synchronized, coordinated and developing together. Digital transformation, green transformation must start from the mindset of the leader, from the organization, from technology. As a business with a very large supply chain, first of all, Nestle itself must have clear and transparent criteria and guidelines on governance, social and environmental commitments, and must have announcements verified by a third party; only then can we work with partners. Next, with direct suppliers, we have rules and standards for acting together in the supply chain. When agreeing to participate in Nestle's supply chain, suppliers must also meet these standards and norms. Further, secondary suppliers also have commitments that can be assessed and controlled. "And when we have a clear, transparent, measurable, and monitorable system, we can ensure that the entire supply chain can operate together. And back to the story of information, awareness raising, communication... In April this year, we coordinated with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Sustainable Development Business Council to organize a consultation, training, policy exchange, and preparation session for suppliers in our supply chain, as well as transporters on new and future regulations in Vietnam, related to emissions, sustainable supply, and sustainable logistics, so that Nestle's suppliers have the same level of awareness and preparation for the transition plan. Regarding issues in the supply chain, for example in the labor chain, we worked with the International Labor Organization ILO to have assessments in Vietnam, in the field of coffee cultivation. approval. In the supply chain, we have a commitment to sustainable packaging, so for Nestle's recyclers, and further down the line our secondary suppliers who are collectors, there have to be environmental standards for how the waste is collected... We've worked with a number of organisations to make sure that our primary suppliers and secondary suppliers have a commitment that can be monitored and verified."

Source: https://baotintuc.vn/doanh-nghiep-doanh-nhan/chuyen-doixanh-chuyen-doi-so-khong-phai-trang-suc-lap-lanh-de-cac-cong-ty-khoac-len-20241112145628271.htm