US-SUPPORTED GREEN INDEX TO PROMOTE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY BUSINESS ECOSYSTEM IN VIETNAM

The Green Index furthers Vietnam's path towards sustainable economic development and backs up the commitments at the recent Climate Change Conference (COP26).

On November 23, the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), and Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam (SPV) signed an MoU to establish a Green Index to help businesses identify provinces that are facilitating green operations.

Conceived by VCCI and supported by USAID and SPV, the Green Index will promote environmental regulatory reforms and improve eco-friendly investment at the provincial level. During the August trip to Vietnam, US Vice President Kamala Harris announced USAID's support for developing a Green Index to rally the private sector to climate action.

"By developing and publishing the Green Index, we aspire to raise greater attention from provincial governments for environmental sustainability in economic development, and inform investment and environmental policymaking at the provincial level, thereby building an environmental business ecosystem, navigating environmental awareness among investors, and attracting more environmental responsive projects," said VCCI chairman Pham Tan Cong.

"The historic agreements struck at COP26 to accelerate cooperation on climate action underscore the importance of collective action to preserve and protect our environment," said USAID Vietnam mission director Ann Marie Yastishock at today's signing ceremony. "This new partnership brings us one step closer to elevating greater environmental awareness and driving greater sustainability to benefit Vietnam's citizens and economy."

The Green Index aims to assess and rank local environmental quality as perceived by businesses and explore firms' environmental behaviour, their willingness to apply green technologies and practices, and their readiness to invest in green operations.

Additionally, the partnership intends to establish the Green Index as a useful tool to inform local policymaking and the development of an environmentally sensitive business ecosystem. The index will be published as part of the current Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) implemented by VCCI with support from USAID. The PCI measures transparency, investment, trade, and economic growth, and has become an important tool since its inception in 2005 for encouraging reforms at both the national and provincial levels on economic governance.

The Green Index is an effort to incorporate greater environmental sustainability into provincial leadership considerations just as Vietnam's shift to deeper environmental awareness is taking root.

Over the last years, Vietnam has been doing its utmost to improve competitiveness and investment business climate. In 2020, Vietnam ranked 49th among 166 countries on performance in SDG implementation, five places higher than the 2019 ranking. In a 2020's report of the UN, Vietnam was listed among the leading three country groups making the most progress in SDG implementation.

Source: VIR