The CEO made the comments at a meeting between President Nguyen Xuan Phuc and a delegation of Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association in Hanoi n November 8.

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc met with Luu Thi Thanh Mau and the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association delegation on November 8

President Nguyen Xuan Phuc met and congratulated the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association delegation at the Presidential Palace for the Red Star Awards ceremony - for young entrepreneurs. The meeting filed many practical proposals, initiatives and recommendations to develop a strong team of businesses and entrepreneurs as a driving force for the country's economic development.

Permanent vice president of the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association, Luu Thi Thanh Mau, and other enterprise representatives raised their opinions with the president, emphasising green finance and green building proposals.

Developing a green financial system

Mau sincerely thanked the state, government, and ministries for their timely policies, applying unprecedented and drastic measures to prevent and control the pandemic and creating momentum for economic and social recovery and development.

She also expressed appreciation for the decisions to support the "credit ceiling" with priorities for rural areas, exports, small and medium enterprises, the supporting industry and applying high technology, with a maximum interest rate of only 4.5 per cent per year for economic development.

The business leader proposed the government expand more policies for businesses with strategic plans for sustainable development, particularly in green building.

“We can focus on this group of businesses for setting up green financial policies with specific conditions and requirements. Developing a green financial system to promote a green economy in Vietnam is a vital factor for sustainable development,” Mau said.

"Currently, the tool to mobilise green finance is mainly used to issue green bonds while green credit has not developed fast and strongly enough," she added.

According to the Ministry of Finance, by June 30, 2022, the outstanding credit for green projects reached more than VND474 trillion ($20.6 billion), accounting for only 4.1 per cent of the total outstanding loans of the whole economy.

Mau proposed the government promote green finance and green credit and encourage and increase both the quantity and quality of enterprises participating in sustainable development.

Known for pioneering the creation of a better lifestyle for public health and a sustainable human and ecological environment, Mau has spent many years researching green building development.

She believes one of the most effective ways to contribute to the recovery and create momentum in Vietnam's economic development is through creating green buildings and energy-effective urban areas, ensuring adaptation to large-scale climate change, sustainable management of natural resources and biodiversity, and green economic development.

According to the Ministry of Construction, by 2030, green economic development can reduce up to 25 per cent of emissions, limiting the global temperature rise below the threshold of 2 degrees, per the Paris Agreement on climate change.

Luu Thi Thanh Mau delivers a speech on green finance and green building to the president and the Vietnam Young Entrepreneurs Association delegation

Mau also said that the lack of a legal framework brought difficulties to enterprises pursuing green buildings in Vietnam.

"There is no legal document that fully stipulates the criteria that are the basis for assessing green buildings. In fact, the evaluation of a certain project that meets the criteria of a green building is still spontaneous from investors," Mau said.

In Vietnam, there are five sets of criteria for evaluating green buildings: the system of the Vietnam Association of Civil Engineering Environment, Green Architecture criteria released by the Vietnam Association of Architects, and LEED, LOTUS, and EDGE standards.

In the past 10 years, more than 200 green buildings were recognised in Vietnam, with a total construction floor area of ​​more than six million square metres, according to the Ministry of Construction. This number is very small compared to the more than 100 million sq.m construction floor built annually in Vietnam.

Other countries in the region have issued legal frameworks specifically for green buildings, such as the 2015 Green Building Code of the Phillippines. This framework creates more favourable conditions for state management and green building development.

In many seminars, forums, and meetings, Mau has expressed her enthusiasm and consistently progressive mindset on green building.

"Green building is a vehicle for Phuc Khang Corporation to make good on the right products in line with the world's trends, spreading the spirit of green living to everyone and contributing to the country’s strategy on sustainable development," she said. “Creating a green urban area is to create a high-quality, humane and ecological living environment for residents, and at the same time contribute to solving global problems. From the green buildings, we will get green and sustainable cities. If supported by green financial policies, the future green buildings will be self-reliant, contributing greatly to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, and the country's target of hitting net-zero by 2050.”