Ho Chi Minh City authorities are encouraging enterprises to boost research and development activities, as well as to adopt modern environment-friendly production models to lay the foundation for green growth in the near future, a senior state official said at a workshop on Friday.

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In Vietnam, green growth strategy is understood as one for development based on changes to the growth model and economic restructuring of local businesses, Tat Thanh Cang, deputy chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee, said at the two-day workshop held by the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham).

With the employment of green growth strategies, Vietnamese firms can take advantage of their comparative edge to enhance the efficiency and competitiveness of the economy through the study and application of advanced technology and the development of modern infrastructure, Cang remarked.

Those new development models will help local firms efficiently use natural resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions during production, adapt to climate change, contribute to hunger eradication and poverty reduction, and boost economic growth in a more sustainable way, he added.

More potential to be unlocked

Experts said at the event that if the EU-Vietnam free trade pact is adopted, it will promote investment, innovation, and technological modernization, thereby improving the productivity and competitiveness of domestic enterprises.

Nicola Connolly, EuroCham chairperson, said European companies wish the trade agreement will soon be signed in order to promote investment in Vietnam.

Connolly added that the EU will spend about 350 million euros’ worth of investment on speeding up green growth in Vietnam.

Jana Herceg, deputy chair of the Economics and Trade Section at the Delegation of the EU to Vietnam, said European businesses investing in green growth are categorized into four groups, including renewable energy, energy savings, sustainable building, and waste and wastewater treatment.

Those are the fields entirely consistent with the orientation to growth and toward sustainable development of Ho Chi Minh City, in particular, and Vietnam, in general, Herceg said.

She added that in order to lure more European companies to invest in green growth, Vietnam should have a trade regime attractive enough to encourage investment.

The Southeast Asian country currently does not have many mechanisms, policies, and the law on renewable energy investment, a very important field in the future, to ensure energy stability in a sustainable manner, she commented.

Appeal for closer ties

Cang, the deputy chair of the People's Committee, said Ho Chi Minh City has set out some basic tasks as well as expectations for cooperation with EuroCham and European firms to effectively execute green growth strategy.

“We are doing research on the list of environmental goods and services offered by European firms to choose the suitable ones,” he said.

The city supports the tendency to apply environmental safeguards in trade so as to limit pollution and reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions for some sectors, Cang said.

City authorities are now encouraging firms to research and invest more in innovation and the application of modern environment-friendly technologies to production.

They have designed six programs to achieve green growth objectives on economic restructuring, traffic congestion and environmental pollution reduction, administrative reform, human resource quality, and anti-flooding, Cang added.

Ho Chi Minh City officials hope that EuroCham and European firms will continue providing support and sharing experience in order to create the necessary conditions for green growth, the deputy chairman said.

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