NDO – Vietnam has been implementing the national strategy on green growth for more than 10 years, but there are still many difficulties and problems. Many experts say that to “solve this problem”, the State needs to soon come up with a comprehensive and drastic solution, in which the important thing is to complete the policy framework for green growth.
This morning, June 26, in Nam Dinh, a national scientific conference with the theme "Green economic development - Theory and practice" took place with the participation of many delegates, economic experts, representatives of ministries, departments, branches and localities, presenting opportunities and challenges for Vietnam in green transformation as well as proposing solutions for Vietnam to promote green economic development.
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Conference scene. |
ENTERPRISES AT THE CENTER OF GREEN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Van Hoan, Deputy Head of the Department of Political Schools (Ho Chi Minh National Academy) said: Green economic development is inevitable. Because, the "brown economic" model in reality has been leaving serious consequences for the environment.
“In 2008, in the context of the global economic crisis, UNEP reiterated this concept, and considered the construction of a green economy, starting with the implementation of 'green economic stimulus packages' in a number of specific areas, moving towards 'green growth' to build a green economy as an important way out to bring countries out of the economic crisis, towards sustainable development”, Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Van Hoan emphasized, adding that the connotation of a green economy includes low carbon emissions, efficient use of resources and ensuring social equity.
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Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Van Hoan presented a paper at the conference. |
Green economy has also been shown to be more efficient in the long term than brown economy, while helping to maintain and restore natural capital. Early green economic development will help shorten the development process, quickly moving towards a prosperous and sustainable society.
Regarding the conditions for green economic development, the Deputy Director of the Department of Political Schools stated that developed countries with financial conditions, human resources and technology can switch to a green economy through investment and development of new economic sectors to promote social development and environmental sustainability. Developing economies have to spend more money and time to gradually adjust to make the traditional economy more environmentally friendly.
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Delegates attending the workshop. |
“In the green economic model, businesses are at the center, playing the main role in development. The State must play the role of “conductor”, coordinating relevant parties, managing the macro-economy and creating the transformation process. In addition, the State is also a market participant in the role of a product consumer,” Associate Professor, Dr. Hoang Van Hoan noted.
Experts say that to develop a green economy, Vietnam needs to ensure four conditions, including quickly completing the legal system on green growth; increasing investment in resources for renewable energy development; enhancing exchanges and cooperation with the international community; and further accelerating the resolution of the carbon tax problem.
From a local perspective, Ms. Ha Lan Anh, Vice Chairwoman of the People's Committee of Nam Dinh province, also commented: Besides the role of the Government and localities, the role of enterprises is identified as a key factor, playing an important role.
Realizing that, in recent times, in addition to many comprehensive solutions, Nam Dinh province has paid attention, created conditions, connected, supported and had many measures to encourage businesses to approach and apply green agricultural models, develop green industries, invest in renewable energy and energy saving, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, etc. Many businesses have proactively innovated, promoted in-depth model transformation, associated with sustainable development, and are environmentally friendly.
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Ms. Ha Lan Anh, Vice Chairwoman of Nam Dinh Provincial People's Committee, shared about the policy of supporting businesses to develop green economy in the locality. |
Nam Dinh province is also actively improving the investment and business environment, removing difficulties, and reforming administration to increase investment attraction and create momentum to promote socio-economic development.
“Nam Dinh province identifies and deeply understands that green growth is an important method to maintain and create momentum for sustainable growth for the present and the future. Especially in the context that Nam Dinh is suffering heavily from the impact of climate change and rising sea levels,” Ms. Lan Anh emphasized.
VIETNAMESE ENTERPRISES ARE FACED BY GREAT OPPORTUNITIES
Meanwhile, Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh, Party Secretary, Vice President of VCCI, Chairman of the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development, affirmed: Currently, Vietnamese enterprises are facing great opportunities for "green development".
Specifically, the Vice President of VCCI said that currently, the system of policies and laws related to green economy has been built and completed. The work of supporting green and sustainable business enterprises has been promoted by agencies and organizations. Green and sustainable business models have been shared and gradually spread in the business community... In addition, the strong development of the 4.0 Industrial Revolution is also a positive factor supporting enterprises to implement green economy.
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Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh, Party Secretary, Vice President of VCCI, Chairman of the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development affirmed: Currently, Vietnamese enterprises are facing great opportunities for "green development". |
“In fact, many domestic enterprises have been using green business as their strategy and competitive advantage. From using environmentally friendly materials, supporting green social responsibility activities, to seriously investing in production lines that reduce waste and emissions. Promoting the role of enterprises will push Vietnam to soon achieve its goals of green and sustainable growth,” said Mr. Vinh.
Particularly for textile enterprises, Mr. Le Tien Truong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Textile and Garment Group, expressed the view that greening the textile and garment industry will create many green and sustainable job opportunities for workers, contributing to stabilizing life, improving work quality, and contributing to national social security.
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Mr. Le Tien Truong, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vietnam Textile and Garment Group, expressed the view that greening the textile and garment industry will create many green and sustainable job opportunities for workers, contributing to stabilizing life, improving work quality, and contributing to national social security. |
In fact, the domestic textile and garment industry also faces many opportunities to "transform" in the direction of greening when the supply chain is shifting towards Vietnam; the legal system and policies are relatively complete according to international standards...
“The green textile production trend will help Vietnamese enterprises receive stable orders with good efficiency in the future,” Mr. Truong emphasized.
In addition, Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh frankly said that, besides opportunities, Vietnamese enterprises will also have to face many challenges such as pressure to change thinking, design problems, re-investing in production models/equipment, training human resources, hiring implementation consultants...
“With more than 97% of them being small and medium-sized enterprises with limited resources, Vietnamese enterprises are facing significant financial challenges when pursuing a green economic path,” said Mr. Vinh.
In addition to the internal problems of enterprises, the coordination of ministries, branches and localities assigned to implement green growth is sometimes not synchronous and ineffective, leading to certain difficulties for enterprises; investment resources for green economy and green growth are still limited, and resources from enterprises have not been tapped. Green finance and green credit are in the formation stage in Vietnam, the outstanding balance of green credit in the total outstanding balance at commercial banks is at a modest number...
NEED TO IMPROVE THE POLICY FRAMEWORK FOR GREEN GROWTH
Sharing some solutions to promote green finance in Vietnam, Mr. Phan Duc Tu, Member of the Executive Committee of the Party Committee of the Central Enterprises Bloc, Party Secretary, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BIDV Vietnam Bank, said that first of all, Vietnam needs to build a comprehensive strategy to develop the green financial market in a harmonious and effective manner between capital channels, linked with the orientations and goals of socio-economic development to 2030, with a vision to 2045.
Vietnam also needs to complete the policy framework for developing the green financial market. Policies related to the green financial market need to be issued specifically soon in parallel with or integrated with policies on green growth, circular economy, energy transition and climate change response. At the same time, there should be mechanisms, preferential policies, support on taxes, fees, interest rates... when localities and enterprises make green transitions.
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Mr. Phan Duc Tu, Member of the Executive Committee of the Central Enterprises Party Committee, Party Secretary, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BIDV Vietnam Bank presented a speech at the workshop. |
The Chairman of the Board of Directors of BIDV Vietnam also stated that there should be mechanisms and policies to attract capital (both State and private) for green investment by issuing policies to exempt and reduce taxes, fees, charges, interest rates and support costs related to issuing green bonds, providing green credit; simplifying administrative procedures in the process of issuing green bonds and granting green credit as mentioned above. Researching the establishment of a Green Development Fund; improving the operational efficiency of the Environmental Protection Fund, Science and Technology Fund, etc.
Mr. Tu proposed that the Government should soon issue Regulations on classification and certification of green projects, in which there should be similarities between Vietnam's green criteria and international standards along with incentive policies corresponding to the levels of green criteria from low to high. At that time, enterprises issuing green/sustainable bonds can gradually access incentive policies as well as create goals/motivations to achieve sustainable growth. At the same time, in case the project or project item does not ensure greenness after each assessment period, it is necessary to correct violations, disclose information about violations, and re-examine after completing the correction.
The State also needs to improve policies, simplify procedures and encourage domestic organizations to participate in the process of certifying and certifying green project frameworks, green bonds and labeling green projects and green bonds according to international standards. At the same time, develop a set of sample documents (pre-issuance information disclosure, periodic information disclosure, reports, etc.) on guiding the issuance of domestic and international green bonds, as a basis for participating units to implement in a unified manner.
The State needs to improve policies, simplify procedures and encourage domestic organizations to participate in the process of certifying and certifying green project frameworks, green bonds and labeling green projects and green bonds according to international standards.
Mr. Phan Duc Tu, Chairman of the Board of Directors of BIDV Bank
It is necessary to pay attention to developing financial markets, especially the corporate market, stock market, investment fund market, derivatives market and carbon credit market.
The Government, ministries and sectors need to have policies and solutions to support businesses and financial institutions in accessing international green finance sources, training programs, and exchanging international experiences on green growth and green finance (through reducing administrative processes and procedures in the preparation, approval and disbursement of projects and programs; issuing a set of criteria for green projects, green buildings and related processes in a timely, easy-to-understand and easy-to-apply manner...).
Enterprises and financial institutions need to have plans and strategies for green development, build a green culture, train and improve the capacity of related human resources, especially departments related to green finance, green credit, environmental-social risk management, etc.
Looking at the green economy from the perspective of low-carbon industrial development, economic expert Doan Cong Khanh frankly pointed out the worrying reality that the current rapid development is leading to many negative impacts on the environment, including greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes (IP).
“In 2014 alone, IP emitted 38.6 million tons of CO2, accounting for 12% of the country’s total emissions. If Vietnam only strives for high growth without taking into account structural changes within each industry and the economic sector structure in total added value, by 2035, Vietnam could be one of the leading countries in pollution,” Mr. Khanh cited.
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Looking at the green economy from the perspective of low-carbon industrial development, economic expert Doan Cong Khanh frankly pointed out the worrying reality that the current rapid development is leading to many negative impacts on the environment, including greenhouse gas emissions from industrial processes (IP). |
Proposing solutions, economic experts said that it is necessary to harmoniously combine promoting the country's internal strength with mobilizing external resources for development; at the same time, develop with focus and key points on the basis of exploiting the comparative advantages of each region, industry/field, creating a breakthrough to catch up with modernity and expanding regional linkages.
In addition, it is also necessary to plan and implement policies towards increasing energy efficiency, focusing on limiting investment attraction in energy-intensive industries; and encouraging tax incentives when applying energy-saving technology.
In addition, experts also noted that the State needs to improve institutions, policies, models for development and management of industrial parks, as well as have preferential policies on taxes, land and other forms of support.
DEVELOPING GREEN AGRICULTURE IN LOCALITIES STILL FACES DIFFICULTIES
From a local perspective, a representative of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nam Dinh province said that in recent years, Nam Dinh agriculture has developed steadily, shifting positively towards commodity production with higher scale, level and efficiency. The growth rate of agricultural, forestry and fishery production value in the past 5 years has increased steadily from 2.5-3.0%/year. Production sectors focus on safety, organic, OCOP products associated with new rural construction.
The industry has proactively expanded international cooperation in the agricultural sector with countries with advanced agriculture such as Japan, Korea and international organizations such as VFD, GCF, WB, ADB, etc.
However, the representative of this Department also said that currently, the development of production in the direction of green agriculture in Nam Dinh province still shows many difficulties and limitations. The scale of production is still small and fragmented; the quality and competitiveness of agricultural products are not high; policies to encourage commodity production, policies to promote accumulation, policies to attract enterprises to invest in agriculture; development of high-tech agriculture; ... although available, are not yet synchronized.
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Conference scene. |
The province's agricultural sector has not yet attracted many enterprises with financial potential to invest in the agricultural sector, especially enterprises applying high technology; people's awareness of green agricultural development is not adequate; the level and capacity to access science and technology are still limited, so the process of green agricultural development is still slow.
Therefore, the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Nam Dinh province hopes to mobilize social resources, especially from enterprises, to implement green growth goals. Strengthen international cooperation to call for financial support and technology transfer to promote green, low-carbon, food-safe agriculture development, and improve competitiveness in the agricultural product chain. Have preferential capital policies and simplify procedures to create conditions for people to invest in expanding production development.
Meanwhile, Mr. Ngo Minh Long, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hau Giang province, said that in recent times, the agricultural sector of Hau Giang province has gradually transformed its production model to meet growth and green consumption, aiming to improve the competitiveness of agricultural products, develop technology to process and reuse by-products and waste, stabilize the economy and improve the quality of life for farmers, protect resources and agricultural ecosystems, etc., ensuring sustainable agricultural development, contributing to the development of a green economy.
In addition, Hau Giang province also promotes farming models in the direction of green, safe, sustainable, and highly effective agriculture, contributing to improving the quality and value of agricultural products through models such as: building VietGAP and GlobalGAP models on crops, livestock, and aquatic products, orienting towards organic production, safe and sustainable production, and being granted growing area codes for export.
"Up to now, the province has built and developed models for certifying good agricultural practices (GAP), models for increasing the value of agricultural products, and models for integrating multiple values in agricultural economic development," said Mr. Long.
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Mr. Ngo Minh Long, Director of the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development of Hau Giang province shared at the workshop. |
Commenting on the province's difficulties, Mr. Ngo Minh Long said that it is necessary to raise farmers' awareness of green production; have mechanisms and policies to support the development of green agriculture; have appropriate investment credit policies for households to invest in expanding production scale.
The agricultural sector needs to create a new breakthrough with a system of synchronous solutions, developing ecological agriculture in a multi-value, multi-sector direction, integrating economic, social and environmental values. Make the most of the natural advantages of each region for agricultural development, ensuring interaction with the ecological environment.
It is necessary to solve the market problem for farmers in consuming agricultural products, to create specialized, large-scale, standardized production areas with strict farming processes; at the same time, promote digital transformation to connect information between production and consumption, thereby tracing the origin of products. This is the leading factor to position a green agriculture.
In his closing remarks at the workshop, Comrade Lai Xuan Mon, Member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Central Party Agencies, affirmed: The workshop was successfully organized. The leaders, scientists, experts, and representatives of the business community focused on analyzing, explaining, and clarifying scientific contents surrounding the topic of Green Economic Development - Theory and Practice.
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Speaking at the closing ceremony of the workshop, Comrade Lai Xuan Mon, Member of the Party Central Committee, Permanent Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department, Chairman of the Scientific Council of the Central Party Agencies affirmed: The workshop was successfully organized. |
He affirmed: The opinions of experts, scientists and delegates will provide more useful scientific arguments, contributing to solving the problems arising in the development of green economy in Vietnam today.
“Many good models, profound lessons and valuable solutions presented at today's workshop will be the basis for agencies to make recommendations to the Party and State to continue building and developing a sustainable, effective and growing green economy in Vietnam in the coming time, contributing to realizing the goal of turning our country into a modern industrialized country,” Comrade Lai Xuan Mon emphasized.
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