Green growth and sustainable development have been identified as among the focuses of development policies in many countries and territories around the world over recent years, and Vietnam will soon approach a green growth model, Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Thi Bich Ngoc told the Vietnam Business Forum 2023 (VBF) on March 17 in Hanoi.

As early as 2012, the government issued a National Strategy on Green Growth for the 2011-2020 period and vision to 2050. The National Assembly also issued, supplemented, and amended a number of laws relating to green growth.

Reaffirming its importance in aspirations for rapid and sustainable development, the Ministry of Planning and Investment advised the Prime Minister to promulgate the National Green Growth Strategy for the 2021-2030 period and vision to 2050 and the National Green Growth Action Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with the goal of promoting economic restructuring associated with growth model innovation, to achieve economic prosperity, environmental sustainability, and social justice, move towards a green, carbon-neutral economy, and contribute to the goal of limiting global temperature rises.

“The shift to green economic development is an inevitable trend and the goal Vietnam is aiming for,” said Deputy Minister Ngoc. “Green transformation is an important growth engine in the long term, and Vietnam is actively implementing a roadmap to amend and supplement its legal framework in order to mobilize green finance and green technology, encourage green production and investment activities, and implement green transition, energy transition, the transition to a circular economy, and low carbon emissions.”

In that context, the Vietnamese Government has determined that the business community plays an important and active role in the implementation of green economic goals and sustainable growth.

With a desire to accompany the government in realizing green growth goals, Mr. Søren Roed Pedersen, Co-Chairman of the Vietnam Business Forum Consortium, told the VBF that green growth is an inexorable trend in many countries around the world, including Vietnam. “However, Vietnam faces a host of difficulties and challenges in achieving this goal, which requires that government agencies, ministries, and sectors offer constructive direction and support the economic sectors involved in promoting green growth,” he added.

Mr. John Rockhold, Head of the Power and Energy Working Group (PEWG) at the VBF, welcomed the positive results Vietnam’s electricity industry posted last year. These include putting into operation many power grid projects early, to release capacity from renewable energy sources and ensure the safe and reliable supply of electricity for daily life and increased production demand post-pandemic.

Recent events have also highlighted the cost to the global economy of a centralized energy system heavily dependent on fossil fuels. Vietnam is no exception in this regard. The energy transition in the country is tied to the rapid growth of its economy, urbanization, and industrialization.

“We have seen the strong aspirations of government leadership to speed up the energy transition while meeting the requirements of economic development and the goal of becoming a high-income country by 2045,” Mr. Rockhold said. “Energy transition is more seen as a potential engine for employment, and this trend will likely grow, helping to build support for renewables.”

On the business side, Deputy Minister Ngoc hopes to hear opinions relating to institutional and policy building or reflecting on the difficulties facing enterprises, in order to identify solutions to support recovery and production and business stabilization while promoting the role and social responsibility of the business community in supporting Vietnam to quickly achieve its goals in green growth and sustainable development.

With ministries and sectors, the Deputy Minister suggested that proposals and recommendations presented by the business community at the VBF will be heard and resolved in a thorough, responsible, and dedicated manner, with the motto of taking business as the focus.