On March 19, in Hanoi, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting with the foreign direct investment (FDI) business community and the Vietnam Business Forum 2024 (VBF 2024) under the theme “Leading FDI Enterprises in Implementing Green Growth Strategies.” The conference and forum were jointly organized by the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the World Bank (WB), and the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
The event was attended by Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung; Minister of Information and Communications Nguyen Manh Hung; Ms. Carolyn Turk, Country Director of the World Bank in Vietnam; leaders of central ministries, departments, and agencies; representatives of international organizations, embassies, and foreign representative offices in Vietnam; leaders of corporations, businesses, associations, and domestic and international economic experts.
In his opening remarks, Minister Nguyen Chi Dung stated that green growth has become an essential trend, an indispensable element of sustainable development. Both businesses in general and FDI businesses in particular will not only be subjects but also actively participate in implementing the Party’s and State’s guidelines and policies, especially the policy of building and completing a fast and sustainable development mechanism in the new phase.
Recognizing the importance of green growth for the country’s future, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has approved the National Strategy on Green Growth for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050. In this context, the business community, especially FDI businesses, is identified as a key factor and plays an important role.
According to Minister Nguyen Chi Dung, Vietnam is facing significant opportunities for green growth to transform, catch up, advance, take the lead, and create momentum for a leap forward in economic, social, and environmental development.
“The direction of green growth is the key to ensuring the successful implementation of the goals in the Socio-economic Development Strategy for the 2021-2030 period; it creates opportunities for Vietnam to continue innovating, promoting deep transformation of the growth model, emphasizing quality, efficiency, and sustainability at the scale of the entire economy as well as at the enterprise level,” emphasized the Minister.
ALWAYS SHARING WITH PARTNERS
In his guidance at the conference, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh once again emphasized that the Government of Vietnam always listens, shares with partners, investors, and contributes to a peaceful, stable, cooperative, and developing environment, working together, enjoying together, winning together, and developing together.
“Firstly, we have confidence in FDI businesses. Secondly, Vietnam has diplomatic relations with more than 193 countries, including comprehensive strategic partnership or strategic partnership relations with all five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council and 16 G20 member countries; signed 16 FTAs with more than 60 countries. Thirdly, we have confidence in unity, consensus within the Party, the political system, the people, national unity, and international unity. Fourthly, we have confidence in the tradition of the nation, the greater the pressure, the greater the effort. Fifthly, we have confidence from the efforts of businesses, people, and the state in overcoming difficulties and challenges,” the Prime Minister shared.
The Prime Minister stated that in a difficult context, many reputable international organizations have highly appreciated Vietnam’s economic results and prospects. ADB forecasts Vietnam’s growth in 2024 at 6%, HSBC Bank predicts 6.3%, and Standard Chartered Bank forecasts 6.7%; while S&P forecasts 6.8%…
Especially, despite the declining FDI trend globally, Vietnam is still a bright spot in attracting FDI. In 2023, FDI attraction reached nearly USD 36.6 billion, up 32.1%, and realized FDI capital reached nearly USD 23.2 billion, up 3.5%.
The investment and business environment is continuously improving, and the business environment ranking has increased by 12 places in 2023 according to the assessment of The Economist (EIU). The global innovation index has been raised (ranked 46/132, up 2 places compared to 2022 according to WIPO’s assessment). The value of Vietnam’s national brand reaches USD 431 billion, ranking 32/100 strong national brands in the world.
In this context, the FDI sector is an important driving force contributing to promoting economic growth, innovation, improving the quality of laws, mechanisms, policies, and national management capacity.
However, along with limitations and shortcomings, the FDI sector also has some existing limitations such as investment quality, technology level, and technology transfer in some projects still limited; low localization rate; connectivity between domestic enterprises and FDI sector is not really close, effective, and sustainable.
Therefore, Vietnam aims to attract selective investment, prioritize high-tech projects with significant spillover effects, friendly to the environment, and promote digital transformation, green transformation, circular economy development, and emerging industries and sectors (semiconductor, artificial intelligence, hydrogen…) and deeply participate in regional and global production and supply chains.
NOT ACCEPTING “GROWTH FIRST, CLEANUP LATER”
Sharing the green growth perspective, the Prime Minister said that Vietnam considers green growth as one of the two core elements (alongside digital transformation) of the economic restructuring process and the transformation of the growth model towards improving productivity, quality, efficiency, competition, and rapid and sustainable development.
The resolute refusal to accept the “growth first, cleanup later” model; ensuring growth at all costs; transforming the growth model from “brown” to “green”; mobilizing and using resources effectively both internally and externally for the development of green ecosystems, circular economies, low-carbon, and energy transition…
Together with the strong development of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this is an inevitable trend and the goal of all countries, a new growth driver; no country can stand outside this process.
Vietnam has actively and responsibly participated in promoting green growth and sustainable development. Vietnam has committed at COP26 to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050; participating in the Asia Zero Emissions Coalition (AZEC); Launching the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP)…
Vietnam has issued many strategies, plans, and programs for green transformation such as the Climate Change Strategy; Green Growth Action Plan; Green Energy Transformation, Carbon and Methane Emission Reduction Action Program; Sustainable Forestry Development Program; Power Planning VIII…
Vietnam is actively implementing the Program to develop 1 million hectares of high-quality intensive rice with low emissions in the Mekong Delta; implementing the “Large-scale Forest Plantation for Wood Production Development 2024-2030” Plan, by 2030, the total area of large-scale forest plantations for wood production will reach 1 million hectares, contributing to protecting the ecosystem, adapting to climate change and reducing natural disasters…
GREEN TRANSFORMATION WITH THE “THREE PIONEERS” SPIRIT
In the coming time, the Prime Minister proposed and desired that FDI enterprises continue to accompany and support Vietnam in five aspects: Capital, institutions, technology, management, and human resource training.
The Prime Minister called on FDI businesses and foreign investors to accompany Vietnam in implementing green transformation and sustainable development with the spirit of the “three pioneers”.
First, pioneering in awareness, thinking, and action, innovating thinking, ways of thinking, and ways of doing things about green growth.
Second, pioneering in technology transfer, promoting research and development, innovation, and creativity to serve green growth.
Third, pioneering in implementing specific green growth projects, renewing traditional growth drivers and adding new growth drivers.
Along with that, the Prime Minister desires that international organizations and development partners continue to support and accompany Vietnam according to the “three pushes” spirit.
First, strengthening cooperation, sharing experiences, consulting policies for Vietnam, focusing on priority areas such as green transformation and digital development.
Second, enhancing financial and technical support for Vietnam, focusing on projects with spillover effects, breakthroughs, changing situations, seeking and connecting with appropriate partners, emphasizing the mobilization and effective use of green financial resources.
Third, strengthening cooperation in training and developing human resources for Vietnam, especially high-quality labor force serving key economic sectors and important emerging fields and sectors.
The Prime Minister also affirmed that Vietnam is committed to “three guarantees,” promoting “three breakthroughs,” and implementing “three enhancements”.
The “three guarantees” include: (i) Ensuring the legitimate rights and interests of businesses in general and FDI businesses in particular, ensuring the stability and development of FDI businesses towards green growth and major trends of the times such as climate change response; (ii) Ensuring independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, political stability, social order, and security stability, stable policies for investors to be assured; (iii) Ensuring stable energy in the direction of green transformation, developing a green ecosystem, digital economic development, digital transformation.
The Prime Minister emphasized that Vietnam must not have power shortages with many different solutions, including promoting the direct power purchase mechanism.
At the same time, Vietnam is promoting three strategic breakthroughs, including: (i) Breakthrough in institutional reforms to serve green and digital transformation; (ii) Breakthrough in economic and social infrastructure, healthcare, transportation, education, green and digital infrastructure; (iii) Breakthrough in human resources.
Vietnam is implementing “three enhancements,” including: (i) Enhancing trust between businesses and the Government and local governments; (ii) Enhancing transparency, equality, and public scrutiny, anti-corruption, and negativity prevention; (iii) Enhancing support for fast and sustainable development of businesses, focusing on green transformation, digital transformation, public-private collaboration.
The Government of Vietnam is committed to always accompanying and creating favorable conditions for the business community, domestic and foreign investors with the spirit of “Harmonious interests, shared risks”; “Working together, winning together, and enjoying together.”
“Cooperation is possible and impossible, but what is most important is to share, understand, and then any large or small obstacles can be solved,” the Prime Minister said and suggested that the business community and investors “should do what they say, carry out their commitments, achieve tangible, balanced, measurable results.”
