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Business Forum 2020 with the theme: “Sustainable development in the decade of actions: Turning challenges into opportunities”. Photo: H. Diu

On December 10, in Hanoi, the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry) organised a Business Forum 2020 with the theme: “Sustainable development in the decade of actions: Turning challenges into opportunities ”.

Binu Jacob, Director of Nestle Vietnam, said that not only focusing on friendly products and services, but the company also pays attention to sustainable production. Nestle Vietnam's factories do not impact on the environment, 40% of the energy used in the factories is renewable energy.

The company aims to cut carbon emissions by 20% by 2025, by 50% by 2030, and completely eliminate carbon emissions from the production process by 2050.

Speaking about the benefits of sustainable development, PhD. Vu TienLoc, Chairman of VCCI, Vice Chairman of the National Council for Sustainable Development and Competitiveness Improvement,said enterprises that can build their own governance models toward sustainable development have proven more resilient than others.

As surveyed by VCCI, 60% of enterprises said they operated better since implementing the Sustainable Development Index.

Caitlin Wiesen, Resident Representative of the United National Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, said we could not achieve our sustainable development goals without enterprises. The fulfillment of the sustainable development goals could open up global market opportunities with value at least US$12 trillion by 2030.

Speaking at the Forum, Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam, Chairman of the National Council for Sustainable Development and Competitiveness Improvement, said sustainable development is a global common target with 17 goals and more than 230 assessment criteria. Vietnam has also developed a national action plan, integrating 17 international goals and selected specific Vietnam’s goals to include in Party documents, laws, and development resolutions ofthe Party, National Assembly and Government.

However, according to the Deputy Prime Minister, achieving the goals in the next 10 years is still a big challenge. Looking at the common goals of the world and Vietnam, there is still a lot to do.

In addition, sustainable development in Vietnam has made much progress, but its spread is not wide. Deputy Prime Minister Dam saidthat Vietnam has 700,000 enterprises, but only 2,000 enterprises (accounting for 2%) are members of the sustainable development business community in Vietnam, and only about 100,000 enterprises (15%) access information on sustainable development.

VCCI Chairman Vu TienLoc said sustainable development has not been a common trend of the business community. This is due to perceptions, leading to slow spread.

Facing this situation, enterprises and experts at the forum said management agencies and ministries should create a favourablelegal environment for enterprises; design support packages and support tools for enterprises to implement sustainable development; and coordinate with governmental organisations, non-governmental organisations and other organisations for development.

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Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam emphasised that ministries and agencies should continue to reform the business and investment environment. There must be a legal and policy framework for enterprises to develop sustainably. Thus, ministries and agencies need to continue to work closely with enterprises, recognise problems, and directly remove difficulties for them.