How are Vietnamese businesses implementing ESG for sustainable development?

(Dan Tri) - Many businesses have gone through a journey of several decades of investing and implementing ESG. Sustainable development helps businesses reduce operating costs, expand business opportunities, attract investment capital...

Early Investment Choices for ESG

Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company ( Vinamilk ) has practiced ESG since 1990 and promoted it since 2010.

Responding to Dan Tri newspaper reporters , Vinamilk's representative realized that after many years of practicing ESG, early investment in sustainable development will have a more positive and long-term impact. "The money from saving resources in the present and future will bring higher benefits than the initial investment cost, especially when the price of raw materials and fuels is increasingly expensive," he said.

In addition, businesses can reduce operating costs, expand opportunities to attract investment capital, maintain sustainable business operations, ensure reputation and enhance corporate brands... Companies can be more proactive when the world sets up "green fences" in the fields of import, export and investment.

Vinamilk's ecological farm (Photo: Vinamilk).

The representative of this enterprise stated that sustainable development is a goal aimed at the business community. Emission reduction is not the story of an individual enterprise, but each of us is part of the common value chain. Therefore, sustainable development requires the cooperation of enterprises and the community to achieve common results.

As a company that has been ahead of the curve in sustainable development for many years, Vinamilk understands that implementation will cost money. However, the current cost will be an investment for the future and will be converted into revenue and profit after 5-10 years.

Sustainable development practices will also help businesses save a lot of operating costs and access preferential loans. "Start thinking about the prospect of costs that arise when not practicing sustainable development," the representative said.

In addition, sustainable development and revenue are two factors that go hand in hand and complement each other. Without profit, no business will be sustainable. However, to have sustainable profit, businesses need to have sustainable and wise transformation, especially in the context of the growing economy , the scarcity of raw materials and energy is increasing, the natural environment is destroyed, and the ecological balance is broken.

The representative of the above unit said that today, practicing ESG has more advantages than before, such as investors are ready, the Government supports, consumers agree and the science of climate change is increasingly accurate. That is also the motivation for companies to pursue sustainable, long-term values, because ESG is no longer a choice but a mandatory factor that determines the ability and survival time of the business.

ESG is the power to promote core values

According to FPT leaders, ESG and sustainable development bring many benefits to businesses. Accordingly, ESG will help businesses increase their potential to expand markets in difficult areas; reduce costs for businesses. At the same time, ESG sustainable development also helps businesses limit profit loss, improve employee performance and increase opportunities to attract investment capital.

Mr. Nguyen Van Khoa - FPT General Director - said at a conference organized by Dan Tri newspaper in August 2024: ESG is the strength for businesses, including FPT, to promote core values. "More than revenue, profit, market, ESG brings a happy working environment to your unit and organization," Mr. Khoa acknowledged.

FPT General Director Nguyen Van Khoa (Photo: FPT).

FPT is present in over 30 countries and territories, so when signing contracts with customers, the first thing they require is compliance with ESG. First of all, respect for gender equality, working hours... Only when businesses meet these requirements can they sign contracts with customers.

FPT representative noted that ESG is not an ornament, worn because of trends. When implementing ESG, there are 3 important factors for businesses: First is the importance to the organization and business strategy, second is the urgency and finally the ability to implement the project.

Speaking about the importance of ESG, Mr. Nguyen The Phuong - Deputy General Director of FPT - also emphasized, "ESG is the factor that creates the strength of the group". Accordingly, the orientation and priorities of ESG are an important part of the group's development strategy and reflect the group's role and responsibility to key stakeholders.

Not only thoroughly implemented at the management level, last year, the group also implemented the training program "FPT's must-know policy regulations" on a group-wide scale to equip employees with the necessary knowledge about internal regulations and sustainable development orientation according to ESG criteria (environment, society and governance).

In the green transformation segment, the group has also developed comprehensive ESG-related solutions such as ESG implementation roadmap consulting services and VertZéro greenhouse gas inventory solutions to help businesses automate and digitize the entire process of data collection, calculation, management, generation of emission reports and monitoring of commitment implementation progress, ensuring international standards...

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hien - Chairman of Gelex Group Joint Stock Company - said that business activities are closely linked to economic development and cannot be separated from environmental - social - community factors. The company understands and believes that the ESG strategy helps Gelex build long-term value and public trust to go further and reach higher.

Therefore, this group practices ESG not following trends but from responsibility, passion, thinking, and actions. All business activities and behaviors with stakeholders comply with sustainable principles.

While every business sets ESG goals, Gelex does not see it as a race. The Group lives with ESG every day, to gradually build a solid foundation for the business. Through that, Gelex promotes core values ​​and fulfills its mission to shareholders, partners, customers, employees and the community.

From a bank's perspective, Eximbank identifies sustainable development as its core goal, focusing on sound financial capacity, improving operational efficiency and diversifying revenue sources. The bank promotes the application of digital technology in management and business, while making management transparent according to stock market practices.

Regarding human resources, Eximbank invests in developing a high-quality team, building a professional, modern and creative working environment.

The bank actively deploys green credit products, supports low-carbon consumption and production, and manages environmental risks in credit granting. At the same time, it strengthens electronic transaction channels and promotes the habit of using environmentally friendly services.

Eximbank also focuses on saving resources at transaction points and organizing internal training to raise awareness of sustainable development, contributing to building a green bank, harmoniously developing between finance and social responsibility.

"No sales without sustainable development"

From the perspective of an agricultural company, Phuc Sinh Joint Stock Company (Phuc Sinh Group) started with sustainable development more than 14 years ago, the journey of pursuing ESG stemmed from the requirements of partners and the market.

Mr. Phan Minh Thong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phuc Sinh Group - also known as the "pepper king", said that since 2010, the company has spent 800 million to hire ESG experts to promote sustainable development. At that time, Phuc Sinh's pepper purchasing partners abroad wanted to achieve a 50% ESG ratio on the shelves, so if the company did not develop sustainably, it would not be able to sell.

However, despite investing a lot of capital into ESG, Phuc Sinh failed in the first 2 years of implementation. The reason was that at that time it was not easy to convince and manage hundreds, thousands of farmers to follow the ESG model. Sustainable development was still a new concept.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Phuc Sinh Group Phan Minh Thong (Photo: Nam Anh).

After that, the company spent 2 years looking back, analyzing the failure, persistently correcting the errors and deciding to continue investing sustainably. By 2014, Phuc Sinh achieved the result of becoming one of the first enterprises in the spice industry in Vietnam to achieve Rainforest Alliance (RA - Sustainable Agriculture Standard) certification.

"Pepper King" said the key to solving the problem lies in understanding the culture of farmers, regional culture, and farming culture, thereby accompanying farmers. In addition, to achieve sustainable development, Phuc Sinh also established teams and groups with many specialized personnel to carry out the work.

"The cost of sustainable development is not cheap, besides, businesses must be steadfast and persistent when implementing it. In short, for businesses to develop sustainably, they need three factors: steadfastness, time and financial potential," Mr. Thong emphasized.

“Thanks to sustainable development, we have overcome many barriers,” Mr. Thong said, including food safety and anti-deforestation barriers. More and more sustainability standards are emerging, but thanks to being ahead of the curve, Phuc Sinh is confident in its ability to easily complete more stringent criteria once it has built a solid foundation.

Environmental and social risk assessment is mandatory

Mr. Dinh Ngoc Dung, Director of Corporate Banking at Saigon - Hanoi Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SHB), said that the successful development and implementation of the ESG governance framework has helped the bank successfully attract billions of USD in ODA capital from international organizations, thereby helping the bank secure capital to continue supporting green transformation projects and bringing positive impacts to the socio-economy.

Environmental and social risk assessment is a mandatory requirement in the process of appraising and considering granting credit to customers (Photo: ShuttersStock).

At Agribank, the bank also built an ESG Action Plan with a focus on prioritizing green project financing and excluding environmentally harmful industries. The bank promotes credit for renewable energy, clean agriculture, and supports small businesses in accessing sustainable capital, especially in rural areas.

Meanwhile, at Bac A Bank, one of the most important steps is to build a comprehensive green credit system. The bank has designed special preferential loan packages specifically for businesses implementing sustainable solutions. This is accompanied by a strict appraisal process with a clear set of criteria, helping to select and prioritize projects with a positive impact on the environment. Areas of particular interest to the bank include solar power, circular agriculture and waste treatment technology.

On April 23, Dan Tri newspaper successfully organized the first Vietnam ESG Forum, with the theme "Sustainable development strategy in the new era". The event gathered many representatives of state management agencies and prestigious experts, sharing many messages and perspectives related to ESG and sustainable development.

After the launching ceremony and introduction of the Vietnam ESG Forum High-Level Council on May 22, 2024, the first Vietnam ESG Forum was organized by Dan Tri Newspaper with a series of activities and events: 2 large-scale seminars in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, ESG initiative writing contest, online discussion series, launching the first Vietnam ESG Awards...

The Organizing Committee of the ESG Vietnam Forum would like to thank Agribank, Thaco, Vietjet and partners for their enthusiastic participation and support...

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/doanh-nghiep-viet-dang-thuc-thi-esg-ra-sao-de-phat-trien-ben-vung-20250113161906566.htm