Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh, Vice President of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Chairman of Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD)

What should businesses focus on to adapt to the greening economy?

Businesses must shift their mindset, beginning with leadership. Strategic thinking drives action.

Transitioning from a profit-driven mindset to a focus on sustainable and nature-positive business is the core element in ensuring the long-term success of both the enterprise and the economy.

I believe "Leadership means seeing opportunities in challenges, maintaining faith, hope and guiding positive action." With this mindset, business leaders should view sustainable development as an investment and a chance to seize new opportunities, not a burden or cost.

Business leaders must redefine success beyond revenue and profits. Today, success includes adaptability, resilience, and recovery from challenges, as well as long-term growth and contributions to community and environmental sustainability. By balancing economics, society and the environment, businesses can create new value and thrive.

Second, once businesses transform their mindset and redefine success, it’s essential for the Board of Directors and top executives to be involved in developing and implementing a sustainable growth strategy. While Vietnamese companies are increasingly focusing on ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) principles, many still view sustainability as a trend, separate from their core strategy. This approach will not provide a solid foundation for true sustainable development. Instead, ESG must be integrated into the overall business strategy to create a unified framework for long-term success.

Third, businesses must focus on investing in the enhancement of sustainable corporate governance and effectively fulfilling their accountability responsibilities.

Accountability, as defined by the OECD, is a key standard of good corporate governance, closely linked to transparency and information disclosure. With increasing pressure to tackle climate change, accountability and climate target disclosure are increasingly important for the global business community.

In Vietnam, where over 96% of businesses are SMEs with limited resources, we encourage the adoption of the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI) developed by VBCSD-VCCI. Many companies express a desire for sustainable development but struggle to access green finance. To secure this funding, businesses must disclose information and provide transparent sustainability data to attract international financial institutions.

By fulfilling accountability and reporting transparently, businesses can access international investors and broader markets, enabling them to achieve their sustainable development goals.

Fourth, businesses must focus on investing in and promoting the transformation of their value chains. Companies worldwide are prioritizing value chain transformation to meet goals like achieving Net Zero by 2050. Greenhouse gas emissions (90-99%) falls under Scope 3, originating from the value chain rather than the company’s own operations. To reach sustainable development goals, businesses must transform their value chains and enhance the capabilities of suppliers and stakeholders, creating a sustainable ecosystem. Without this transformation, achieving sustainability is unlikely.

Fifth, businesses need to further intensify innovation and multi-stakeholder collaboration.

Innovation is crucial for both the approach and implementation of a company’s sustainable development strategy. Businesses must differentiate between CSR and sustainable development, as CSR alone does not capture all sustainability aspects.

 Furthermore, no business or organization can achieve green transformation alone. Collaboration with stakeholders is essential, as multi-stakeholder cooperation brings together different resources and expertise to address shared challenges in the ecosystem.

Sixth, businesses must pay attention to dual transformation. Digital transformation and the development of new technological solutions must go hand in hand, complementing green transformation. Technological solutions and digital transformation contribute positively to the green and sustainable development efforts of the business community and nations, but they also pose risks that need to be tightly managed.

VCSF 2024 acknowledges the important role of the sustainable business community in achieving the Net Zero 2050 goal and promoting a sustainable future 

How are policy shifts responding to practical demands?

Sustainable development is a strategic priority in Vietnam's policies, led by the Party and the State. Since 2014, the Vietnam Corporate Sustainability Forum (VCSF) has held 11 editions, alongside National Conferences on Sustainable Development in 2018 and 2019 organized by VCCI. These events have generated many policy recommendations for the Government, contributing to important policies such as Directive 13/CT-TTg on Sustainable Development, Decision 1362/QD-TTg for the sustainable development of private sector businesses to 2025 with a vision to 2030, and Resolution 136/NQ-CP on Sustainable Development.

Resolution 41, issued by the Politburo, emphasizes the business community's role in national prosperity and development. I believe that favorable policies will soon be introduced to support sustainable and responsible business practices, benefiting Vietnamese enterprises.

To create the most favorable environment for sustainable business, the Government should promote green and digital transformation, develop commodity and carbon credit markets, and guide the growth of industries aligned with green and circular economies. Additionally, the Government should issue preferential policies to support technology transformation, establish product development centers, and foster innovation ecosystems. This includes specific guidelines and pilot programs for green transformation. Creating dedicated law on the circular economy would also advance this economic model.

The Government should institutionalize sustainable reporting by integrating multiple reports into a single mandatory tool for corporate information disclosure and management. There should be a long-term plan for developing a unified database for sustainable reporting in Vietnam.

Regulatory bodies need to shift their approach to policy development, management, and oversight. Likewise, the public and society must shift their lifestyle and consumption habits from "gray" to "green."

From VCCI's perspective, as the national organization for the business community, we have long worked together with many ministries to support businesses. This includes facilitating dialogue between businesses and authorities to address issues and sharing sustainable development models. VCSF is a prime example of these efforts.

VCCI has developed various indices to promote sustainable transformation among stakeholders. The Provincial Green Index (PGI) encourages provinces to balance economic development with environmental protection. CSI motivates businesses to adopt sustainable governance practices, enhancing competitiveness and fostering responsible business.

Currently, through the VBCSD, VCCI is collaborating with IDH Vietnam on the Vietnam Sustainable Industrial Park Initiative, which includes the Sustainable Industrial Park (SIP) Index.

We hope that these efforts to connect, collaborate and support the business community in sustainable development, along with policy recommendations to the Government, will facilitate the green transition for Vietnamese enterprises. This will inspire businesses to commit to sustainability, reinforce confidence and work together for a better world through better business practices.

Thank you very much!