Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 Judging Council meets to discuss important issues

On the morning of December 9, 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 in Hanoi .

Journalist Pham Tuan Anh, Editor-in-Chief of Dan Tri Newspaper, Head of the Organizing Committee of the Vietnam ESG Forum, said that the Organizing Committee expects to receive in-depth comments from experts in the council.

"The discussions will help unify the plan for preparing documents and implementing the first round of Vietnam ESG Awards 2025; dividing the appraisal groups according to expertise and discussing the honor categories, including the categories from season 1 as well as categories related to science and technology to match the theme of this year's forum," he said.

ESG criteria expand to AI, blockchain and green tech

At the meeting, Professor Nguyen Duc Khuong - Executive Director of EMLV Business School (France), Chairman of the Association of Vietnamese Scientists and Experts (AVSE Global) - expressed his agreement with the evaluation process and roadmap of Vietnam ESG Awards 2025. He highly appreciated the division of expertise as well as the category system that has been built.

He emphasized the need for a new category on science and technology , considering this an important open direction to promote advanced solutions in ESG implementation.

“If there is a category for new technology businesses - such as AI, blockchain or models supporting climate change adaptation - it will be a very attractive highlight of this year's season,” Professor Khuong suggested. He believes that this year's context, which is predicted to see many extreme climate fluctuations, further highlights the role of innovation and R&D (research and development) in businesses.

Mr. Khuong noted that the selection of honored units must closely follow the national development orientation. “We must prioritize businesses that create a clear positive impact on the external ecosystem,” he added.

Dr. Le Thai Ha - Executive Director of VinFuture Foundation, Executive Director of the Fund for a Green Future - believes that the science and technology category should be approached by focusing on technological solutions to address different aspects of the three pillars E, S, G.

Ms. Le Thai Ha emphasized that it is necessary to build a system of specific and clear measurement criteria. For example, with pillar E, it is necessary to evaluate how the solution helps save energy or reduce emissions. With pillar S, it is necessary to evaluate whether technology creates a more equal working environment or increases the happiness index of workers. As for letter G, it is necessary to consider how technology helps optimize time and management efficiency.

Dr. Ha also noted that the evaluation of technological solutions must consider other important factors, such as whether the solution is a unique product developed by the enterprise itself or just technology acquired from outside. At the same time, the Council also needs to evaluate the sustainability of the solution, related to the ability to maintain it long-term as well as the ability to replicate it to other enterprises in the industry or expand to the regional scope.

“I think it is extremely important to develop a comprehensive and comprehensive set of criteria. However, when evaluating each business, we still need flexibility to suit the characteristics and operational reality of each unit,” Ms. Ha emphasized.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Trung - President of Banking University of Ho Chi Minh City - expressed his agreement with the ESG criteria and assessed it as a detailed and appropriate system of standards. However, he suggested that the Council should have a more flexible approach when considering the solutions that businesses apply in actual operations to meet ESG criteria.

He gave examples of specific solutions, such as applying AI in collecting recruitment documents, using technology for meetings, or applying digitalization in salary and administrative management. “If businesses can develop AI and blockchain technologies themselves “Make in Vietnam”, there should be a plus point to encourage technological autonomy,” Associate Professor Dr. Trung emphasized.

Proposal to specify "disqualification points" for businesses violating labor and tax regulations in the last 2 years

Dr. Bui Thanh Minh - Deputy Director of the Office of Private Economic Development Research (Department IV) - assessed the criteria set of this year's Vietnam ESG Awards as detailed and closely following current ESG standards.

According to him, after the 2024 period focusing on fundamental stories, this year has entered the phase of shaping the ESG identity of Dan Tri newspaper, demonstrating a very positive development roadmap.

He noted that the quality of this year's appraisal council has been significantly improved, both academically and reflecting the perspective of business policy and practice. At the same time, the number and quality of participating businesses have increased significantly, including many outstanding units, among the leading groups in ESG nationwide.

Dr. Minh noted that ESG is a complex field, so a set of criteria is unlikely to cover all the characteristics of every industry. Therefore, during the scoring process, there will be cases where businesses own initiatives that go beyond the criteria framework. In such cases, the council needs to discuss carefully to make the most appropriate assessment in practice.

Prof. Dr. Mac Quoc Anh - Vice President and General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises - commented that this year's ESG criteria closely followed international trends. He cited that in Singapore, ESG standards have been widely applied, from the F&B business system to businesses preparing to list.

According to Mr. Quoc Anh, the criteria system is also very suitable with Vietnam's policy orientation and the "four resolutions". The important highlight of this year's season is the focus on science and technology.

He said that when evaluating projects with technological elements, it is necessary to carefully consider the contribution of applying science and technology to the domestic supply chain. Enterprises with outstanding contributions in this field should be given priority consideration in the high-ranking group.

Mr. Pham Tuan Anh - Member of the Board of Members of the Vietnam National Energy Industry Group (PVN) - commented that after 2 seasons of implementation, the ESG criteria set has had clear, positive changes and is increasingly perfected. He said he was particularly impressed with some criteria that bear the very unique mark of Dan Tri , creating a unique identity for the assessment system.

Associate Professor Dr. Ta Hai Tung - Principal of the School of Information and Communication Technology (Hanoi University of Science and Technology) - said that in the group of criteria related to blockchain, the council needs to be more flexible.

He noted that blockchain is an energy-intensive technology, so it is not suitable for all businesses. In many cases, other solutions such as digital signatures can meet security needs while still optimizing energy costs. “So will businesses that apply that alternative technology be scored?”, he asked.

Mr. Vu Thanh Thang - Director of Artificial Intelligence (CAIO), Founder of SCS Cyber Security Joint Stock Company - shared a similar view. He said that in Vietnam, some businesses are developing blockchain platforms, but this technology contradicts the E aspect due to high energy consumption. However, blockchain has a great advantage of not depending on a third party, so the inclusion of blockchain criteria needs to be carefully calculated.

“When I read the criteria carefully, I was quite surprised because the preparation was very methodical and followed the trend,” he said. Regarding cybersecurity, he noted that Vietnam already has Decree 13; large enterprises with hundreds of thousands of internal accounts face the risk of information leakage, so this issue needs to be considered in the scoring process.

He suggested the council weigh the real value of blockchain against the energy consumption. In fact, some current blockchain models are highly efficient while consuming very little energy.

Associate Professor Dr. Nguyen Duc Loc - Director of the Institute for Social Life Research - emphasized that in the entire scale, all criteria must have evidence to be able to calculate points. Particularly with the S pillar in the science and technology category, he said that it is necessary to carefully evaluate whether the technology ensures fairness and inclusiveness, and especially consider the risk of causing harm to any social group.

Journalist Pham Tuan Anh, Editor-in-Chief of Dan Tri newspaper, added that the current set of criteria was built based on the synthesis of the council's comments from season 1 and in-depth discussions at the beginning of season 2. "This draft is the result of synthesizing the opinions of each member. We will continue to take note of the comments at today's meeting to further improve it," he emphasized.

It is expected that on December 15, the Evaluation Council will hold its final meeting to finalize the results of the first round of evaluation, complete all documents and agree on the list of qualified enterprises to enter the in-depth evaluation phase. This is an important milestone before the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 officially announces the outstanding units, ensuring the selection process is transparent, consistent and reflects the spirit of the criteria that have been completed in this year's season.

Adding his opinion, Professor Nguyen Duc Khuong said that for the group of science and technology enterprises, the evaluation criteria should focus on new technologies that the enterprises themselves create, while clearly measuring the impact of those technologies on society.

Dr. Le Thai Ha added her opinion regarding the exclusion clause. She said that last year the council mentioned "failure points" and this year it needs to be more specific. According to her, businesses that have violated labor, tax or other violations in the past two years need to be carefully considered in the evaluation process.

The Vietnam ESG Forum 2025 will take place at 1:30 p.m. on December 22 in Hanoi, bringing together a large number of representatives from ministries, experts, businesses and the community interested in sustainable development. The event is expected to become a space for in-depth discussion on the latest ESG trends, green transformation strategies, digital transformation and emerging compliance requirements in the region.

In addition to the conference, the Vietnam ESG Awards 2025 will be an important highlight, honoring pioneering businesses with outstanding ESG practices and positive contributions to society. This is also an opportunity for the business community to connect, share experiences and spread typical sustainable development models.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/kinh-doanh/hoi-dong-tham-dinh-vietnam-esg-awards-2025-hop-ban-cac-noi-dung-quan-trong-20251209131701810.htm