First of all, many thanks to Ambassador Giorgio Aliberti for organizing this meeting. It is an honor to be here representing EuroCham Vietnam, one of the largest European chambers in the world, and all of our 1,200 members. I am pleased to be joined by five of them, one of which works in the renewable energy sector. All of them are very much active in developing a resource-efficient Vietnamese economy. With the green expertise of our members, we could have easily brought an additional dozen people here today. I’m also very pleased to join this meeting with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), which is one of EuroCham’s closest partners in the country.
As you know well, with a coastline of more than 3 thousand kilometers, Vietnam is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change. Rising sea levels are already having a large impact on the Vietnamese people, with the intensity of flooding and saltwater intrusion increasing year-by-year, destroying homes and livelihoods. Future estimates are also discouraging. A 100 cm sea level rise is predicted to put half of the Mekong Delta underwater. This would clearly have a massive economic impact, destabilizing an extremely dynamic country in one of the world’s most energetic regions.
But the future doesn’t have to be so dark. To avoid this, action is needed by all nations, undeveloped, developing, and developed. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s commitments made at COP26 were a remarkable and brave step, widely celebrated by the international community. However, these commitments require a complete economic transformation. This transformation towards decarbonization must be the foundation of Vietnam’s economy.
For many years, EuroCham and its members have already worked towards bringing about change through our advocacy work. Our annual Whitebook, reflecting the views of our many sector committees, is presented to the government each year. As far back as 2009, EuroCham hosted an innovative event called GreenBiz, which was a large, forward looking conference and exhibition on green growth and sustainability.
Within EuroCham, we have an active Green Growth Sector Committee, or GGSC, made up of four lively subcommittees and more than forty eager members, whose main objective is green advocacy toward the government and its ministries. In the recent past, our GGSC pushed for the expansion of rooftop solar production, leading to huge growth in this sector since 2018, with a particularly impressive boom occurring in 2020. In the past few months, the GGSC has been actively engaged in providing comments regarding the forthcoming PDP8, consulting on a DPPA pilot scheme, and advocating for the revision of regulations related to Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) in the Environmental Protection Law.
Of course, fully realizing an economic transformation will be difficult and will take more than policy changes and advocacy. To bring great change, our European businesses are crucial. I am here today to tell you that we are here, ready and able to bring about such change. European know-how and expertise should be brought here and used in the Vietnamese context through the import of clean technologies and the knowledge of European experts. This is especially needed to achieve the decarbonization of Vietnam’s economy, the development of offshore wind energy, and the construction of efficient, green architecture.
To this end, green development will be the main theme of EuroCham’s 2022 activities. We will hold regular events in this field, helping to raise awareness of European green practices, and adapting these solutions in Vietnam. In this context, we at EuroCham will host a three-day conference and exhibition in Ho Chi Minh City, the economic hub of the country, called GEFE 2022 (Green Economy Forum and Exhibition). This event,
scheduled for November of this year, will be held in partnership with EU member state embassies and trade counsellors, hopefully the EU Delegation to Vietnam, the Vietnamese government, and our friends at the VCCI. It will promote B2B and B2G dialogue, offering a platform where all stakeholders can be actively involved in finding and applying green solutions in Vietnam. It will open with a high-level conference, possibly in Hanoi. Following this, it will consist of a two-day conference, bringing together European and Vietnamese experts from government, businesses, and academia, covering topics such as climate change, circular economy, energy resources, green financing, waste management, etc. The second part of the event will be a three-day exhibition, hosting over 150 European companies enthusiastic to share their green technological experiences and initiatives. Through these events, all the stakeholders will be given the opportunity to engage with Vietnamese businesses, students, and with the general public. We already have the commitment of the Prime Minister, and several key ministers from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. Of course, Mr. Timmermans, we would also like to invite you to come back to Vietnam to help us to inaugurate and participate in this event.
Source : Eurochamp VietNam