Supporting businesses for Resource Efficiency and Circular Production
On August 13, Vietnam Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade) coordinated with the International Trade Centre (ITC) to organize the webinar “Initiating the component: Resource Efficiency and Circular Production”. This event is within the framework of the project “Trade for Sustainable Development – T4SD”.
The webinar “Initiating the component: Resource Efficiency and Circular Production (RECP)” aims to raise awareness and build capacity for businesses, especially small and medium enterprises on sustainable production, processing and business practices. Training content includes: assessment of actual resource consumption; design of strategies for resource efficiency and circular production; access to technology and “green” finance for implementation of business strategies.
On his opening remarks, Mr. Hoang Minh Chien – Deputy Director of the Trade Promotion Agency said that the Covid-19 pandemic has affected all aspects of global socio-economic life, changed perceptions of people worldwide, therefore deepening the awareness of the growth model towards sustainable development. In that context, many countries around the world such as EU countries, Japan, Korea, etc. are robustly converting to a circular economy. In Vietnam, the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress has identified building a circular economy as one of the country’s development orientations in the 2021-2030 period.
Mr. Hoang Minh Chien – Deputy Director of Trade Promotion Agency (Ministry of Industry and Trade): Vietnam is moving towards a circular economy
The Trade Promotion Agency’s management also said that most small and medium enterprises currently face many barriers in moving towards a circular economy, such as: limited mindset and awareness about the circular economy, lack of commitment and persistence from leadership, lack of information, limited human and financial resources. The Trade Promotion Agency gradually provides training, consultation and support to develop the plan towards the circular economy and organizes practical events to support businesses to overcome difficulties in the Covid-19 period and in the future.
Sharing about the direct benefits for businesses when participating in the project, Ms. Ann-Kathrin Zotz- Global Project Manager T4SD, ITC, said that businesses will be supported to increase international competitiveness of the players in the value chain through reducing production costs and increasing productivity; create new business opportunities through the development of new products and services; create opportunities to access “green” finance.
Ms. Ann-Kathrin Zotz, Global Project Manager of T4SD, ITC: Enterprises receive many benefits when participating in RECP
All of the above benefits will help businesses move towards the further goal of developing a circular economy. This is a consumption and production model in which existing materials and products are reused for as long as possible. In that way, water, energy resources, etc. can be used efficiently.
There are several trends over the world, including an increasing demand for transparency and product traceability in the supply chain. Businesses need to be well-prepared before products are delivered on the market and to consumers, along with that is the trend of complying with standards towards sustainable production. According to Ms. Ann-Kathrin Zotz, the needs and desires of consumers are increasingly more diversified and challenging day by day, especially the requirement for sustainable production that requests participation and compliance from manufacturers.
However, for the component as well as the project to be successful, it is important for the enterprise’s commitment to stay connected with experts, provide information, and facilitate the expert’s work. Under the complicated situation of Covid-19, based on the actual situation, the project will flexibly adjust the implementation plans accordingly to ensure safety for the experts and businesses.
The webinar “Initiating the component: Resources Efficiency and Circular Production (RECP)” attracted the attention of many businesses.
With tremendous benefits, the RECP component as well as the T4SD project attracted great attention from the business community. At the event, experts also answered many questions related to training programs, knowledge about resource efficiency, information update, project implementation time, etc.
One of the issues that businesses are interested in is the funding for the implementation of the component. Ms. Nguyen Bao Thoa- T4SD project manager in Vietnam stated that in the final quarter of 2021, the green financial component will be implemented. Thus, as soon as the RECP component ends and determines which stages need to be invested and improved, the consulting team on green finance, banks, and financial institutions will fully coordinate immediately to complete those activities.
