Raising awareness of the importance and role of green growth

That is the general assessment of economic experts at the seminar "Promoting sustainable green economic development" organized by Banking Times on the afternoon of June 4, in Hanoi.

According to Ms. Hoang Thanh Nhan, Editor-in-Chief of Banking Times, Vietnam is one of the countries most severely affected by climate change and faces the risk of resource depletion and environmental pollution due to a long period of development based on resources and cheap labor. In that context, promoting a green economy and a circular economy is an inevitable step for Vietnam to grow sustainably in the future.

As the lifeblood of the economy, the banking sector has recently implemented many solutions to support the greening process of the economy. As of March 31, 47 credit institutions had green credit outstanding balances of nearly VND637 trillion, accounting for 4.5% of the total outstanding balances of the entire economy. Compared to the end of 2015, when the green credit program began to be implemented, the outstanding balance was only VND71 trillion. After 9 years, the outstanding balance for the green program has increased 9 times, an average increase of 100% per year. If evaluated compared to the average outstanding balance of the entire economy, green credit has increased 7 times.

Notably, of the 637 trillion VND of green credit, it is mainly focused on renewable energy sectors accounting for 47%, green agriculture about 32%, clean water for urban and rural areas about 11% and the rest for forestry. Medium and long-term credit accounts for 77% of total outstanding green debt.

Editor-in-Chief of Banking Times Hoang Thanh Nhan speaks at the seminar.

However, although the Party and the Government have always paid attention, the banking sector and other ministries and sectors have also had many supportive solutions, according to economic experts, the implementation of the green economic model and circular economy in Vietnam still faces many difficulties. Because in Vietnam, these are all new economic models, the legal corridor for these models is not complete, the awareness of local authorities, businesses and people is still limited. In addition, limited financial capacity is also a major obstacle for many businesses in the process of transitioning to a green economic model and circular economy.

Sharing at the Seminar, Dr. Tran Thi Hong Minh, Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, analyzed that Vietnam does not have a common set of criteria to identify, evaluate, summarize and accurately classify the level of development of the circular economy. For example, although mentioned a lot, the role, benefits, nature, content and criteria of circular agriculture are unclear, or even non-existent.

“On the other hand, Vietnam has not yet built the necessary database in the production and consumption process of the product life cycle. In addition, Vietnam also faces difficulties in both input and output material markets for the circular economy. Although there are relatively complete legal documents regulating the development of the solid waste recycling market, this market has not yet been fully formed due to the lack of mechanisms and policies linking businesses and manufacturers; businesses still face difficulties in consuming recycled products...”, said Ms. Tran Thi Hong Minh.

Faced with the above difficulties and challenges, Dr. Vo Tri Thanh, Director of the Institute for Brand Strategy and Competition, sent a message to businesses. That is: When the world faces many uncertainties and risks, businesses need to learn how to manage the risks of "shocks"; in a connected world, businesses need to learn how to enhance competitiveness through connecting markets and partners; in a world with technological leaps, for sustainable development, businesses learn to constantly innovate and successfully transform digitally, learn to have a new vision and production and business strategy.

Dr. Can Van Luc speaks at the seminar.

BIDV Chief Economist, Dr. Can Van Luc also pointed out 5 areas that need to prioritize green growth, which are green, clean agriculture and high-tech application; urban development and sustainable transportation methods; clean energy conversion; applying circular economic models (currently, 62% of greenhouse gas emissions are from production, 38% from distribution and consumption); keeping the ocean clean and efficient (Vietnam has 28 provinces and cities with marine economy...).

Concluding the discussion, Ms. Hoang Thanh Nhan, Editor-in-Chief of Banking Times, emphasized that green growth can only be successfully implemented if the whole community joins hands, changing from awareness to behavior. This is a process that requires a synchronous reform system from support policies, technology, finance and capacity to operate the economy in a completely new way.

In addition, it is also necessary to involve media channels to raise awareness among people, agencies and organizations about the importance and role of green growth; raise people's awareness in using, saving energy and protecting the environment...

Source: https://nhandan.vn/nang-cao-nhan-thuc-ve-tam-quan-trong-va-vai-tro-cua-tang-truong-xanh-post812648.html