“Business success is not only based on revenue and profit growth, but also on increasing corporate responsibility to society and the community, as well as creating a long-term sustainable future for future generations.”
The comments were made by two speakers - experts from VCCI and Acecook Vietnam at the Online Discussion with the topic "Green transformation - Intangible value of enterprises" conducted by VietNamNet Newspaper.
Attending the discussion were Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh - Vice President of Vietnam Federation of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), Chairman of Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) and Mr. Pham Trung Thanh - Head of External Relations Department of Acecook Vietnam Joint Stock Company.
The two speakers shared their thoughts on the "greening" process of businesses, especially in the consumer goods manufacturing sector. The speakers also discussed the support needed for businesses to meet the green standards of the market, and forecasted future trends.
At the beginning of the sharing session, Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh affirmed that green transformation (or energy transition) for sustainable development is a trend in Vietnam and globally. The Vice President of VCCI said that when environmental protection and carbon emission reduction are top priorities worldwide, green transformation is not only a choice, but also "the only path" that businesses must take.
Sharing this view, Mr. Pham Trung Thanh said that green transformation is not only a trend, but also a "survival" orientation for businesses when today's market, especially the export market, has many technical barriers towards green factors.
Talking about the green transformation journey at Acecook Vietnam, Mr. Thanh said that in order to meet the green standards of the market, all activities at Acecook apply the 3R principle (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle). Acecook has converted 90% of plastic cup packaging into environmentally friendly paper cups; thereby reducing 239 million plastic cups discharged into the environment (accounting for 70% of the market), also reducing 80% of Acecook Vietnam's plastic waste.
The speaker from Acecook Vietnam emphasized that green transformation is no longer limited to products and services but also to the internal operations of each enterprise. The "green" factor is reflected in the investment process, production process, use of electricity and energy systems, construction of works or business operations, to optimize energy savings and be environmentally friendly.
Accordingly, Acecook Vietnam has soon used circular energy and converted raw materials from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. From 2021, Acecook will replace coal-fired boilers with boilers using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). In 2023, it will convert from coal-fired boilers to using biomass as raw materials. By 2025, the entire Acecook factory will use boilers using clean raw materials in production.
Following the speaker from Acecook Vietnam, Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh commented that the green transformation of Vietnamese enterprises in recent years has been very positive, which is a good sign for the Vietnamese business community to develop sustainably and inclusively in the coming time. However, the Vice President of VCCI is not surprised by the fact that a large number of enterprises (especially small and medium enterprises) in Vietnam are not ready for green transformation.
Analyzing the causes, the two speakers emphasized the "bottlenecks" in awareness, vision, and limitations in green transformation resources; such as knowledge, capacity, human resources, especially funding to solve new and complex problems in the transformation roadmap.
Giving an example of the difficulty in finding sustainable sources, Mr. Pham Trung Thanh said: When making paper cups, Acecook Vietnam could not find a domestic supplier that could ensure the product could be preserved like plastic cups. This led to having to find imported sources, causing the cost of the product to increase.
However, "green" does not always come with costs as many businesses worry. According to the speaker from Acecook Vietnam, sustainable practices open up cost-saving solutions; helping to reduce costs in the long term. Mr. Pham Trung Thanh analyzed the benefits from the market potential that green conversion brings; especially the export market when Vietnamese businesses can solve the "problems" of the world's green criteria, increasing the trust and support of users for green products.
“If we can meet the strictest market requirements, the large market will open up for all of us. That will be an unlimited potential for Vietnamese enterprises to reach out to the world market,” said a representative of Acecook Vietnam.
In order for Vietnamese enterprises to firmly enter the global playing field, Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh analyzed the importance of supporting solutions and accompanying the business community on the green transformation journey. “The Government needs to have synchronous measures to issue legal documents, as well as policies on training, coaching, and developing green human resources, helping enterprises not only raise awareness but also enjoy initial incentives to access science and technology to create “greener” products, and manage ESG (environment - society - corporate governance) issues in the new situation,” said the Vice President of VCCI.
Before closing the sharing session, the two speakers gave messages about green transformation to the community and businesses.
Mr. Pham Trung Thanh said: “We can absolutely define the success of a business through green transformation activities. That success is not only based on the growth of revenue and profit, but also on the increase of the business’s responsibility to society and the community, as well as creating a long-term sustainable future for future generations.”
Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh - Vice President of VCCI emphasized the importance of cooperation from the business community and individuals in the green transformation journey. He believes that the voluntary and responsible compliance of each enterprise will contribute to the whole society to successfully achieve the goal of sustainable development, for a better green living environment for the whole planet.
Dinh Anh Tuyet
Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/chuyen-doi-xanh-dinh-vi-gia-tri-ben-vung-cua-doanh-nghiep-trong-ky-nguyen-xanh-2349145.html
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