Pressure to convert
In his role as moderator of the high-level dialogue between leaders of ministries and branches, Dr. Tran Du Lich, an economic expert who has accompanied the development process of Ho Chi Minh City for many years, shared that in the context of global competition, any country or nation that is slow in dual transformation will immediately be left behind. Within the framework of the Autumn Economic Forum 2025 in Ho Chi Minh City, there was a clear message emphasized: The Party and Government of Vietnam have identified the urgent requirements of the dual transformation era, including green transformation and digital transformation.
Through reviewing the entire current policy framework, Dr. Tran Du Lich said that a multi-page list related to green transformation and digital transformation has been issued. This affirms that Vietnam has not only stopped at the level of international commitments, but has proactively implemented them over the past many years.
The goal of the Autumn Economic Forum 2025 is to accelerate the process of putting policies into practice, ensuring that commitments are realized, thereby creating a foundation for Vietnam to enter a new era of development. As the key advisory body on green growth policies, Mr. Do Thanh Trung, Deputy Minister of Finance, said that this unit has issued a set of criteria including 72 indicators reflecting the green level of each sector, from the environment to transportation. This set of criteria is basically compatible with international standards, including EU standards.
However, in order for these indicators to be used to assess the actual business, serve business operations and mobilize capital, a set of specific criteria for the business itself is needed. This is an important requirement to bring the green growth strategy to each business.
According to the Ministry of Finance, this agency is currently implementing two main groups of tasks; including the construction of data collection forms, creating a unified database to correctly assess the current situation and characteristics of Vietnamese enterprises. This is the foundation for identifying green enterprises according to domestic and international standards. In addition, the Ministry of Finance will coordinate with ministries and branches to design immediate support mechanisms, especially preferential capital sources. Many policies have been issued, such as the 2% interest rate support policy or regulations related to green finance, environmental taxes and fees.
However, the process of developing a set of green business criteria poses a challenge in balancing integration requirements and the actual capacity of businesses, especially small and medium enterprises - the most vulnerable group when applying ESG standards. The Ministry of Finance said it is implementing in parallel, evaluating - researching and designing a pilot support policy, aiming to issue a set of criteria as soon as possible, creating conditions for businesses to access financial support and appropriate policies.
Huge capital needs
Some recent studies show that the scale of capital demand is very large. A report by the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies in collaboration with international partners forecasts that in the next 10 years, Ho Chi Minh City will need about VND990,000 billion (equivalent to 38 billion USD) to implement the green transformation and digital transformation goals. On average, each year, the capital demand of this city alone is up to about 4 billion USD. Meanwhile, the updated report on Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) shows that Vietnam needs about 28 billion USD for green transformation by 2030.
To meet this large capital demand, Mr. Do Thanh Trung said that the Ministry of Finance is implementing three groups of solutions, including developing the green financial market; allocating the state budget for green goals and expanding international capital mobilization and legal reform. The representative of the Ministry of Finance affirmed that it will continue to coordinate with ministries and localities to ensure resources to implement green growth goals, both at the national level and in key localities such as Ho Chi Minh City.
"Green credit growth is being strongly promoted. By the end of 2024, the value of green bonds issued by enterprises is estimated to reach about 1-2 billion USD. Many large enterprises and organizations in Vietnam have participated in this market. Outstanding green credit is currently approximately 700,000 billion VND, an increase of more than 25% compared to 2023 and accounting for nearly 6% of the total outstanding debt of the economy. This is a very encouraging number," Mr. Trung assessed.
In addition to resources from businesses and the credit system, the Ministry of Finance leader said that the state budget also plays an important role through interest rate support programs, public investment and other fiscal policies. The Ministry of Finance is developing a public investment plan for the 2026-2030 period with a total expected scale of more than VND8 million billion, including central and local budget capital and investment from Ho Chi Minh City. These resources will focus on sustainable development goals such as green transport infrastructure, smart cities and environmental protection projects. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance is also working with bilateral and multilateral financial institutions to mobilize more capital for green growth according to the Government's goals.
Another key task is to complete the legal framework for the capital market, including promoting the development of the government bond market, improving the listing and trading mechanism, adjusting fees and amending relevant regulations. The Ministry of Finance expects the green capital market, especially government green bonds, to become an important mobilization channel alongside bank credit, corporate bonds and foreign loans. On that basis, the Ministry will continue to support localities in implementing driving projects, including key projects in Ho Chi Minh City that are receiving investment from the central budget.
Source: https://baotintuc.vn/kinh-te/viet-nam-can-khoang-28-ty-usd-cho-chuyen-doi-xanh-den-nam-2030-20251126192858381.htm
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