Eager to encourage green, sustainable production transformation

"Sustainable production and consumption are one of the inevitable trends not only in Vietnam but also in countries around the world, especially in the context of our increasingly depleted sources of primary raw materials", Mr Cu Huy Quang, Deputy Chief of the Office of Consumption and Production - Ministry of Industry and Trade shared.

At the seminar "Green Production and Distribution - Solutions for Sustainable Economic Development", Mr Quang assessed that domestic businesses are initially aware of the importance of sustainable production in green distribution and sustainable distribution.

In the long term, this will help businesses access new consumer trends in the world, especially in areas with improved standards. This will ensure competitiveness in the context of globalization and Vietnam's participation in many new-generation FTAs.

According to Mr. Quang, applying circular economic models is an inevitable trend in Vietnam. However, when applying green production processes, sustainable production, and sustainable consumption, businesses have positive impacts such as positioning the Vietnamese brand and positioning the brand of the product when going global. Businesses can also dominate the market and win the trust of consumers.

On the contrary, businesses also face some difficulties. The first is to choose a model suitable for the production scale of the business, or in other words, to choose the technology that is suitable for the development scale of the business.

In addition, there is investment capital. Businesses, especially small and medium-sized groups, find it difficult to access preferential loans and low-interest rates. Finally, there are limitations of support policies from the state.

From a management perspective, Mr. Quang commented that the State needs to improve policies and legal frameworks to support businesses in converting to green production, transition to sustainable production and sustainable consumption.

"The State needs to synchronize in priority policies for green production development in industries, fields, or choose to give priority to some specific fields and industries applying green and clean technology," he recommended.

As an advisor to the Ministry of Industry and Trade in implementing activities in the field of sustainable production and consumption, Mr Quang proposed three main solutions. First, build standards for circular economy models. Second, improve local management capacity to promote the transition to sustainable production and sustainable consumption. Third, pay more attention to communication work, contributing to improving the thinking and awareness of the business community.

Mr. Nguyen Hoang Huan, Deputy Director of Vinacomin - Vinacomin Informatics, Technology and Environment Joint Stock Company (VITE) acknowledged that green and clean production now is not simply a process. It is a process that forms from the very beginning of implementation to the end of the project. "Green and clean transformation is a long process. Businesses must proactively change perceptions and thinking," he said.

Regarding the coal industry, Mr. Huan said that the green and sustainable production process focuses mainly on pollution control, by optimizing the efficiency of natural resource use and enhancing the application of circular models by applying modern technology and methods of exploitation and processing. As a consequence, it ensures energy savings, contributing to better environmental protection.

As a consulting unit of Vietnam Coal-Mineral Group, VITE aims at synchronous solutions both in the long term as well as in the short term.

In the long term, the company proposes to implement research projects and overall environmental assessment such as environmental protection projects for coal mining inside and outside Quang Ninh province, options for treating mine waste dumps in Quang Ninh, overall environmental protection measures for areas with high population density such as Hon Gai and Cam Pha.

In the short term, aim towards the treatment of products after the mining process such as wastewater, soil, and waste rock... Specifically, with wastewater, the company is coordinating with the Group to implement projects aimed at reusing mine wastewater, and proceed to re-supply it to households for use; With waste soil and rock, the Group aims to use it for construction purposes such as leveling and building roads.

"The group is accelerating the pace of greening on waste dumps, thereby combining forest economic development on post-exploitation dump areas. We also prepare a land fund to increase the biomass of crops grown on soil and waste rock, to prepare a good infrastructure for the open carbon trading market," said Mr. Huan.

Like Mr. Quang, VITE leaders admitted some difficulties when converting, including a lack of similarity, connection and synchronization with the locality. He also said that the production process to a greener and cleaner transformation involves many ministries, departments and sectors. This overlap has a big impact on the implementation process.

Through the seminar organized by Industry and Trade Magazine, Mr. Huan proposed the management agency promulgate mechanisms and policies to help businesses access preferential capital sources. "The cost of conversion is huge, so this source of capital must be both easy to access and long-term," he confided.

On June 24, 2020, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 889/QD-TTg approving the National Action Program on sustainable production and consumption for the period 2021 - 2030. In particular, determining the goal of promoting the effective and sustainable management, exploitation and use of resources, fuel, and raw materials, encourages the development of environmentally friendly resources, fuels, materials and products that are renewable, reusable and recyclable.

Ms. Nguyen Thi My Hung, Manager of the Corporate Social Responsibility Department, at MM Mega Market Vietnam, said that consumers are now very active in finding and using products and services that protect the environment for the long term.

In the strategic vision of MM Mega Market Vietnam, the business will focus resources to call for awareness and change customer behavior on sustainable consumption. "Green consumption trend is the driving force for businesses to change and improve products and services in a green and sustainable direction", Ms. Hung emphasized.