Vietnam’s Green Growth:Commitments, Reality & Challenges

APF, 01-02 Dec 2022

Commitments■ Qualitative changes in perceiving dev’t issues• From “economic growth” to “sustainable and inclusive dev’t”• From “brown economy” to “green economy”;• From “linear economy” to “circular economy”• From “real economy” to “real-digital economy/”real economy”• From “market” to “market with a state/a society that promotes innovation”■ Ambitious commitments for SDGs since 2015, and most recently at COP26(“net zero emission” by 2050).
■ Renew approach to promote green growth• New Green Growth Strategy (2021); Action Plan to implement Green Growth
Strategy (2022); New Power Dev’t Master Plan (Electricity Scheme VIII).
• The implementation of international commitments, especially in high-quality FTAs
(CPTPP, EVFTA,...)• Individual Action Plan to implement Enhanced APEC Agenda for Structural Reform
2021-2025 also includes an action on promoting CE dev’t in VN (and in the ASEAN
Framework for CE)

Green Growth (2021)
04 Group targets
1. The intensity of emissions
per GDP compared to 2014
must decrease by at least
15% by 2030 and 30% by
2050
2. Greening economic sectors
3. Greening lifestyles andpromoting sustainableconsumption
4. Greening the transition on
the principles of equality,inclusion, and resilience
5. Commitment to net zero
emissions at COP26

Action Plan (2022)
09 overall themes:
1. Building and perfecting institutions and policies; improvethe effectiveness and efficiency of state management inassociation with green growth goals
2. Communication, education and raising awareness3. Developing human resources and green jobs
4. Mobilizing financial resources and promoting investment forgreen growth
5. Science, technology, innovation
6. International integration and cooperation
7. Equality in green transition
8. Waste management
9. Green, sustainable consumption and shopping

10 priority area/sector themes: Energy; Industry;
Transportation; Construction; Agriculture & rural areas;
Air quality management; Management of water
resources, Land resources and biodiversity; Blue sea
economy; Medical; Tourism

Real proofs■ Not only political commitment, but also
market pressure: New consumption
pattern (green, safe, humane,...) + New
business areas: “circular economy”;“smart city”; “creative economy”…
■ Agriculture• VAC (garden-pond-stall model)  VACB (+biogas model), VACR (+ forest model), VAH(+ rice & shrimp…)• Vinamilk: “Green Circle” in dairy farms■ Industrial production• Businesses that develop sustainably according
to Corporate Sustainable Index (CSI)• Pilot building Eco-Industrial Parks (MPI)• Private initiative to build Nam Cau Kien EcoIndustrial Park and DEEP C Industrial Park,
both in Hai Phong• Heineken: Circular economy model RESOLVE(REgenerate, Share, Optimize, Loop, Vitualize,Exchange)■ Services: Wellness tourism

What studies show?
■ VCCI (2021): CSI-certified businesses
are more resilient, even during thecovid-19 pandemic (according toVCCI).
■ Nielsen vn, 2019: Brands withcommitment to go "green" and "clean"
grow faster than the whole market by
2.5% - 11.4%■ UNDP & NEU (2019): Social impact
enterprises (SIB) have very positive
performance in recruiting/supporting
female and disadvantaged peopleChallenges & Key Issues■ VN has paid quite significant price for growth (resource degradation,environment pollution, especially in big cities).
■ Action Plan of the Green Growth Strategy 2011-2020: Only 3/12 goals
achieved, low spillover impact■ It is a process facing several challenges/problems:• Awareness; institutional reform; education; media• Need to have both "bottom up" and “top down” approaches. The adjustment
cost for firms and the whole economy is not small• Raising “green finance” and its effective realization? WB (2022): VN need an
additional capital of USD 368 bill.
• National efforts and international cooperation. Prime Minister of VN (May2022): To achieve the development goals, we cannot go alone. To go far, wemust have friends.

Some Thoughts for APEC■ APEC PUTRAJAYA VISION 2040: “Our Vision is an open, dynamic, resilientand peaceful Asia-Pacific community by 2040, for the prosperity of all ourpeople and future generations”. 3 driving forces: Trade and investment;
Inovation and digital transformation; Strong, balanced, sustainable, andinclusive growth■ What APEC can do?
• Foster cooperation, including dialogues and development of green
taxonomy, for sustainable/low-carbon value chains.
➢ Take forward work in areas, such as SMEs and food security to support thedecarbonization of supply chains➢ Watch out for the discussion of Clean Economy pillar of IPEF

• Facilitate multi-stakeholder collaboration to facilitate implementation of CE
in the region.
• Support technical cooperation and capacity building for green transition andCE in particular➢ Funding to support initiatives towards green transition• Harmonize ESG standards to enable green financing