This week will see some representatives from agriculture and food company The PAN Group fly to the UAE to partake in COP28 sideline events, where state leaders will discuss solutions to mobilising finance for initiatives on coping with climate change.

Vietnamese enterprises use COP28 event to expand reach, illustration photo/ Source: freepik.com

The company signed an MoU with Standard Chartered Bank (Vietnam) on December 1, with the signing ceremony coming after the bank has studied and highly appreciated The PAN Group’s effort in implementing a sustainable development strategy. According to the MoU, the bank will sponsor capital for green projects serving the production and business of agro- and aquacultural products.

“We want to update assessments from the UN and the next steps and trends that have global influence. We will also share stories about sustainable agriculture and food development with international friends attending conferences within the COP28 framework,” a group representative told VIR.

The PAN Group is among many in a Vietnamese delegation to join events at COP28, many of whom wish to share experience and learn lessons from other nations in sustainable development and green growth, with Vietnam currently major exporters of agricultural products, electronics, and garments and textiles, among others. This is also the first time that The PAN Group has participated in such an event.

In the framework of COP28, the Vietnamese delegation participating in technical negotiations, directed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE), will chair a number of events and simultaneously participate in others to share experience, promote information and images of Vietnam’s response to climate change, and call for international support.

For example, the MoNRE on December 3 collaborated with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to organise a regional dialogue on facility greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting to drive nationally determined contributions (NDCs) and net-zero implementation and business engagement. They will also jointly organise another business dialogue for green transition and business engagement in net-zero and NDC implementation in Vietnam on December 6.

The events will see participation from a number of high-profile foreign-invested and domestic enterprises such as HSBC, Sovico Group, and Maritime Bank. Representatives of the three will engage in discussions on concrete pieces of evidence of transition to decarbonisation, project preparation, and the role of transition finance on December 6.

“Many private corporations and state-owned enterprises have initially researched and gradually reduced fossil energy sources and developed plans to reduce GHG emissions. Some multinational corporations are willing to cooperate with government agencies to achieve the goal of achieving net-zero emissions,” said Koji Fukuda, chief advisor at JICA’s NDC Implementation Support.

The sideline events are being organised to identify businesses’ difficulties in the energy transition process, including accessing the necessary information, developing a roadmap to reduce GHG emissions, and finding solutions to balance finances in doing so, Fukuda added.

Meanwhile, Sovico Group is seeking more opportunities to expand its partner network at COP28 after its two members, Vietjet Air and HDBank, signed agreements with partners at COP26 in 2021. Also at the time, Affinity Investment Fund and HDBank reached a grant of $300 million for sustainable development and combating climate change.