Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha made the statement while attending the 4th Vietnam Development Bridge 2024 Forum in the Northern City of Hai Phong this afternoon.
With the theme ‘Vietnam moving towards a green, sustainable economy: From strategies and policies of the Government to initiatives and solutions of localities and businesses’ and the Golden Dragon Awards program for the first time, the forum jointly organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Vietnam Economic Magazine, VnEconomy, Vietnam Economic Times and Hai Phong City People's Committee.
Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha, representatives of central ministries and agencies, representatives of diplomatic agencies, leaders of 25 provinces and cities in the Northern region, along with business associations and nearly 300 foreign investment enterprises in Vietnam attended the forum.
Previously, the forum was successfully held in Hanoi in 2021, Ho Chi Minh City in 2022, and Da Nang City in 2023.
At the forum, Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha highly appreciated the forum's theme because all nations in the world are facing global challenges that each country cannot solve alone without other countries' assistance, said the Deputy Prime Minister.
According to the Deputy Prime Minister, along with many countries around the world, Vietnam is now poised to move from brown to green growth, a move that can make production and consumption more sustainable, increase the quality of life, and reduce the impacts of climate change with a focus on circular transformation, energy transformation, low carbon emissions, ensuring green growth.
The Southeast Asian country aims to successfully implement the Net-Zero commitment by 2050 and sustainable development. This is considered an inevitable and irreversible trend in the world's development process.
The private sector together with the Government, international partners, localities, and financial institutions in Vietnam will find solutions. The current problem is that nations have to sit together to find an effective cooperation mechanism, the Deputy Prime Minister said.
He added that Vietnam already has a basic legal framework and the Government pledged to continue improving and promoting the development of the green economy, including the field of renewable energy.
According to a recent assessment by the European Commission (EC) of the current global market size, green products and services are estimated to reach over US$5,000 billion and may have a much higher growth rate than other traditional markets. It is forecast that by 2030, the green economy will create about 24 million new jobs globally.
The green economy also creates opportunities to strongly attract investors in many new fields such as renewable energy, smart transportation, smart agriculture, green urban areas, green construction, and green finance. On the national level, the green growth strategy also demonstrates the determination and desire to develop a strong and sustainable country.
The green economy has been concretized into highly legal standards which have been mentioned in international trade commitments. The carbon border has come into effect from October 1, 2023, whilst the regulations on anti-deforestation will take effect from January 1, 2025, and the world will continue to issue plastic footprints and plastic borders. Accordingly, meeting global supply chain standards for goods exported from markets is a mandatory requirement.
In Vietnam, the regulations in the Law on Environmental Protection issued in 2020 which is effective from January 1, 2022, are also being strongly implemented. From 2023, businesses will be obliged to voluntarily inventory greenhouse gas emissions.
By 2025, greenhouse gas emissions inventories will be mandatory for businesses.
The plenary session of the forum will focus on discussing and updating new international trends in the green economy, low carbon economy, ‘Net – Zero’ economy. Accordingly, through practical green transformation activities of localities, economic sectors, and business communities in Vietnam reflect the country's green economic development process.
