On the afternoon of July 30, the meeting of the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 Appraisal Council took place in both in-person and online formats at the Dan Tri newspaper office.
Journalist Pham Tuan Anh, Editor-in-Chief of Dan Tri Newspaper, Head of the Organizing Committee of the Vietnam ESG Forum, said this is an important meeting in the process of preparing and perfecting the evaluation system, honoring outstanding organizations in implementing ESG, especially in applying science and technology to sustainable development.
"Vietnam ESG Awards 2024 within the framework of the first Vietnam ESG Forum honored 31 enterprises with achievements in ESG implementation, of which 10 units achieved the title of Comprehensive ESG," he said.
According to journalist Pham Tuan Anh, within the framework of the Vietnam ESG Forum 2025, the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 aims to honor businesses and organizations that implement ESG and have outstanding commitments and achievements in implementing ESG, especially in applying science and technology towards sustainable development.
Journalist Pham Tuan Anh, Editor-in-Chief of Dan Tri Newspaper and Head of the Organizing Committee of the Vietnam ESG Forum 2025, said that the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 aims to honor businesses and organizations with outstanding commitments and achievements in ESG implementation, especially in the application of science and technology (Photo: Hai Long).
The meeting focused on discussing the adjustment and addition of the scoring criteria set to better reflect the role of technology in each ESG pillar. The time to complete and adjust the criteria set includes basic criteria and advanced criteria according to the theme of the Vietnam ESG Forum 2025.
The implementation method, the division of professional groups into each field to evaluate the applications for the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 more effectively... are also issues that will be discussed at the meeting of the Appraisal Council.
Businesses need to be encouraged to effectively implement ESG
At the meeting, Mr. Pham Tuan Anh - Member of the Board of Members of the Vietnam National Energy and Industry Group (PVN) - highly appreciated the criteria of Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 of Dan Tri newspaper. He proposed that the application for Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 should require additional commitments to not violate environmental, tax or other related obligations... of the units.
"It is necessary to avoid cases where complaints related to the business arise after being honored. Requiring a commitment to compliance is necessary and completely feasible for any business operating normally in Vietnam," he emphasized.
Adding her opinion, Ms. Pham Minh Huong - Director of Sustainable Development Services of Deloitte Vietnam - said that there should be a focal point to verify information from the tax authority or relevant agencies, to clarify the commitment of the enterprise to not owe wages or union fees. These are legitimate rights of employees and can be proven through the activities of the grassroots union.
Dr. Le Thai Ha - Executive Director of VinFuture Fund, Executive Director of the Fund for a Green Future - said that since the first Vietnam ESG Awards season, the Evaluation Council has discussed issues of businesses that have violated such as tax debts, salary debts, or social insurance debts.
"The Council at that time wanted to spread widely, encouraging both small and medium-sized enterprises to participate. However, to ensure transparency and reputation, businesses were still interviewed and asked to commit to not re-offending or to be in the process of correcting violations," she said.
The meeting of the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 Judging Council took place in both in-person and online formats (Photo: Hai Long).
"Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 should continue to keep the procedures simple in the first round to encourage businesses to register. However, in the following rounds, the council can increase inspections, refer to more information from partners who have worked with businesses or ESG reports provided by independent auditors," Ms. Ha suggested.
Sharing more, Mr. Pham Tuan Anh - Member of PVN's Board of Members - said that it is necessary to enhance the communication effect, in order to widely spread the value of ESG in the business community. He proposed that the scoring scale should have incentive points for businesses that have implemented ESG substantially and achieved specific results, instead of just stopping at the commitment level.
In addition, he said it is necessary to classify and evaluate by industry, paying special attention to areas facing many challenges in implementing ESG, such as manufacturing industries with large amounts of waste and carbon emissions.
"For example, businesses in the energy industry, to reduce just 1% of CO2 emissions, have to sacrifice a lot of costs, efforts, and even profits. Therefore, the scoring method also needs to be designed to reflect actual efforts, creating motivation for businesses to make more efforts," he said.
Mr. Pham Tuan Anh also said that the current set of criteria has integrated digital transformation and innovation factors, but there should be a bonus point mechanism for businesses that effectively apply science and technology in the process of implementing ESG criteria.
Mr. Pham Tuan Anh - Member of the Board of Members of Vietnam National Energy and Industry Group (PVN) - highly appreciated the criteria of Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 of Dan Tri newspaper (Photo: Hai Long).
Agreeing with the above viewpoint, Dr. Le Thai Ha commented that this year's set of criteria needs to be adjusted towards more specific classification between industry groups. She gave an example, at the Vietnam ESG Awards 2024, there was a criterion on manufacturing but participating banks all marked "not applicable" because their fields were not related to manufacturing.
After reviewing last year's set of criteria, Ms. Ha said that there was no need for a complete change, but only needed to be supplemented and adjusted to suit this year's theme. In particular, according to her, it was necessary to increase the weight of the assessment for the science and technology factor, because this is a key factor promoting sustainable development in the long term.
Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 needs to prioritize science and technology criteria
Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Trung - President of Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City - believes that the scoring system of Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 should be stable and avoid too many changes in a short period of time. According to him, it is necessary to build a set of core criteria as a foundation, then add advanced criteria and a bonus point mechanism to encourage businesses.
Regarding the science and technology factor, Mr. Trung pointed out that there are currently two groups of businesses. One group mainly applies available technology such as renting platforms from third parties, and the other group develops internal technology to serve their own operations. Therefore, there needs to be clear reward criteria for innovation activities, in order to properly recognize the contributions of businesses in this field.
"There are units that implement ESG very well but are not strong in technology development. Therefore, designing separate bonus points for science and technology criteria will create more motivation for businesses to improve more comprehensively," he emphasized.
Dr. Bui Thanh Minh - Deputy Director of the Office of Private Economic Development Research (Department IV) - believes that Vietnam ESG Awards needs to create a diverse and open playground for many businesses to participate. According to him, it is not necessary to follow the criteria of international ESG organizations, but can selectively absorb them, suitable to domestic practices.
Dr. Bui Thanh Minh said that during the scoring process, the criteria can be adjusted and improved (Photo: Hai Long).
"It needs to bear the unique mark of Dan Tri , as it demonstrated its pioneering role last year. The points that have been done well should continue to be promoted. During the scoring process, the criteria can be adjusted and further improved. It is also necessary to consider integrating science and technology factors into each ESG pillar, or building a separate sub-section to evaluate this factor more clearly," Mr. Minh suggested.
He emphasized that ESG is a universal approach globally, so it is necessary to maintain a set of standard, stable criteria each year to create consistency. However, each year, a central theme can be selected to highlight, such as this year's "Science and Technology and the Driving Force for Sustainable Development". According to him, it is necessary to spend time developing separate criteria for this theme and have a corresponding honor category.
Based on his practical experience in evaluating hundreds of enterprises, Dr. Minh shared that no set of criteria can measure all aspects. He said that the initial screening process should include 30-40 enterprises, then gradually eliminate them. Finally, the Evaluation Council needs to maximize its role and unify its approach to ensure the objectivity and effectiveness of the evaluation process.
Dr. Mac Quoc Anh - Vice President and General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Director of the Institute of Economics and Enterprise Development - also believes that Vietnam ESG Awards needs to maintain stability every year so that businesses can continue to participate in the long term.
Dr. Mac Quoc Anh believes that the units that have been honored in the Vietnam ESG Awards 2024 should have the obligation to report on ESG implementation results after being honored, thereby spreading practical experience to new businesses that wish to participate (Photo: Hai Long).
"Implementing ESG is a long journey, which can last 5-10 years. Therefore, criteria should not be changed too often, for example, one criterion this year and another next year. In addition, it is necessary to strengthen legal binding so that businesses can strictly implement it, while clearly distinguishing between commitments and actual results," he emphasized.
He also suggested that units that have been honored in the Vietnam ESG Awards 2024 should be obliged to report on ESG implementation results after being honored, thereby spreading practical experience to new businesses that wish to participate.
In addition, Dr. Mac Quoc Anh suggested that Dan Tri newspaper could establish a pioneering ESG Club in Vietnam, gathering leading enterprises in ESG implementation to share knowledge and experience, contributing to maintaining the effect and expanding the influence of Vietnam ESG Awards in the business community.
Mr. Vu Thanh Thang - Director of CAIO Artificial Intelligence and Founder of SCS Cyber Security Joint Stock Company - suggested integrating science and technology into the evaluation criteria of Vietnam ESG Awards 2025.
"The standard criteria that have been used annually should be retained and additional criteria added. In particular, the application of science and technology should account for about 20% of the total score. Accordingly, each ESG category should have a separate assessment of the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), technology...", he said.
Mr. Thang believes that the application of science and technology needs to be separated from research and development (R&D). Many businesses may not be able to conduct their own research, but they have the ability to strongly apply technologies such as AI. Therefore, the criteria sets need to add this item to the scoring, adding more points to businesses that have applied technology, ensuring that the total score does not exceed 20%.
Will review and review additional criteria for suitability and effectiveness
Speaking at the meeting, Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Loc - Director of the Institute for Social Life Research - made important suggestions to improve the objectivity and sustainable development orientation of the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025.
He agreed with the existing scoring systems, but said that the scale needed to be carefully considered to ensure maximum objectivity. A clearer definition of the scale would make the assessment process more accurate and fair.
"It is necessary to encourage manufacturing enterprises to participate in the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025, because this is a field that plays an important role in bringing sustainable development to the economy. At the same time, there needs to be a separate topic related to technology, placed in the context of international integration," he said.
In addition, he also shared his experience on the importance of businesses having public commitments to society. These commitments can be clearly shown on the business website. At the same time, businesses should be encouraged to publicize their commitments and send the commitment link to the organizing committee.
Journalist Pham Tuan Anh said that the Organizing Committee wants to maintain the stability of the criteria set last year. During the review process, the Evaluation Council can review additional criteria that need to be adjusted to be suitable and effective (Photo: Hai Long).
Concluding the meeting of the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 Judging Council, journalist Pham Tuan Anh - Editor-in-Chief of Dan Tri newspaper - acknowledged and thanked the Judging Council's opinions.
"The Organizing Committee wishes to maintain the criteria set last year. However, during the review process, the Evaluation Council may review additional criteria that need to be adjusted to be suitable and effective. In addition, the Organizing Committee will contact the outstanding units honored at the Vietnam ESG Awards 2024 to record new changes in ESG implementation," journalist Pham Tuan Anh shared.
The Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 Judging Council has 10 members, including:
1. Professor Nguyen Duc Khuong - Executive Director of EMLV Business School France, Chairman of the Global Association of Vietnamese Scientists and Experts (AVSE Global)
2. Dr. Le Thai Ha - Executive Director of Vinfuture Foundation, Executive Director of Green Future Fund
3. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Duc Loc - Director of the Institute for Social Life Research
4. Dr. Mac Quoc Anh - Vice President and General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, Director of the Institute of Economics and Enterprise Development
5. Dr. Bui Thanh Minh - Deputy Director of Professional Affairs, Office of Private Economic Development Research Board (Board IV)
6. Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Duc Trung - Principal of Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City
7. Ms. Pham Minh Huong - Deputy Director of Sustainable Development Services, Deloitte Vietnam
8. Mr. Pham Tuan Anh - Member of the Board of Members of Vietnam National Industry and Energy Group (PVN)
9. Associate Professor, Dr. Ta Hai Tung - Principal of School of Information and Communication Technology (Hanoi University of Science and Technology)
10. Mr. Vu Thanh Thang - Director of CAIO Artificial Intelligence - Founder of SCS Cyber Security Joint Stock Company
Among them, Mr. Pham Tuan Anh - Member of the Board of Members of Vietnam National Industry and Energy Group (PVN), Associate Professor, Dr. Ta Hai Tung - Principal of the School of Information and Communications Technology (Hanoi University of Science and Technology), Mr. Vu Thanh Thang - Director of CAIO Artificial Intelligence - Founder of SCS Cyber Security Joint Stock Company are the new members invited to the Appraisal Council.
Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/hoi-dong-tham-dinh-thao-luan-soi-noi-ve-vietnam-esg-awards-2025-20250730173218761.htm
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