At the end of January, Vingroup’s V-Green Charging Stations Company signed an agreement with eTreego, a Taiwanese company specialising in charging equipment and management systems, to develop the VinFast electric vehicle (EV) charging network in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

According to V-Green representatives, in addition to installing 100,000 charging portals in three key ASEAN markets by 2030, the two sides have also agreed to encourage green conversion initiatives, including the development of carbon credit certification for V-Green’s charging stations.

The two companies will also discuss the development of the VinFast EV supply chain and expanding operations to other markets to jointly seize significant opportunities in the global green transportation sector.

“The certification for the VinFast charging station system will help us benefit from green financial incentives as well as convert them into cash,” a V-Green representative stated.

EV startup Selex Motors has successfully piloted carbon credits for e-motorcycles in Vietnam and completed the international assessment process in December last year.

With the support of the United Nations Development Programme, Selex Motors, founded in 2018, has become the world’s first two-wheeler electric motorcycle company to successfully register carbon credits. The EV will sell credits for five years from 2025, with a total expected emission reduction of more than 197,000 tonnes of CO2.

According to the World Bank, the global carbon credit market reached $850 billion in 2024, an increase of nearly 40 per cent. The Asia-Pacific region as a whole has the potential to become a hub for carbon credit transactions due to the strong development of renewable energy and nature conservation efforts.

Vietnam’s plan to establish and develop the carbon market in Vietnam was approved in January.

According to Dr. Bui Duy Tung, an economics lecturer at RMIT University, the carbon credit market in Vietnam is in a developmental stage with progress in legal frameworks, policies, and implementation.

The exchange provides a transparent and efficient platform, allowing businesses to easily buy and sell credits to comply with greenhouse gas emission regulations. Active participation in this market also demonstrates a company’s commitment to environmental protection. “Through the exchange, businesses can choose between investing in clean technology to reduce emissions or purchasing credits from other entities. This provides motivation for businesses to optimise costs and drive technological innovation towards environmentally friendly solutions,” Tung noted.

He added that participating in the exchange helps businesses access new business opportunities in the renewable energy and green technology sectors.

“Compliance with international emission standards will create improvements for businesses when exporting goods, especially in the context where many countries are applying carbon taxes on imported products,” he said.

According to statistics from Gold Standard, Vietnam has 72 groups registered and assessed for selling carbon credits. Nearly 40 of them have been certified, mainly in the wind power and biogas sectors.

Another potential sector in Vietnam for selling is waste-to-energy. Do Son Thuy, an expert from the VinaCarbon Investment Fund under VinaCapital, said that the fund plans to launch the first waste-to-energy plant in Hanoi, aiming to maximise the value of waste.

The pilot is currently testing with a scale of over 100 tonnes of waste per day. Its revenue sources include selling electricity, recycled products, and energy pellets.

“Similar to carbon, plastic credit is a type of licence that can be traded to support businesses in achieving their goals of reducing plastic use and neutralising plastic,” Thuy said.

The United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change notes many types of carbon credits. Worldwide, afforestation, forest conservation, and enrichment are the most common. With forest coverage of 42 per cent, Vietnam has the potential to leverage afforestation to generate millions of carbon credits.

In 2023, Vietnam successfully transferred 10.3 million credits from natural forests to the World Bank at a price of $5 per tonne of CO2, earning $51.5 million. These credits were generated from forest areas in six provinces in the North Central region, benefiting around 7,000 forest owners who received approximately $15 million in payments.