Global economic integration requires green technology: forum

Speaking at the forum on technological innovation towards green development in the business circle, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Nguyen Thi Phuong Hoa said Vietnam is pursuing a green economy.

With such move, the country aims to reduce poverty, ease adverse impacts on the environment, generate more jobs and ensure social equality, she said.

Nguyen The Chinh, head of the Institute of Strategy and Policy in Natural Resources and Environment, underlined the need for businesses to grasp the Party’s and State’s new policies and guidelines on green economy.

The official explained that there have been various incentives for enterprises to renovate technologies in order to meet targets set in the National Green Growth Strategy.

With a range of amended and supplemented policies and laws, especially once Vietnam effectuates a free trade agreement with Europe and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, technological innovation towards a green economy is expected to be pushed forward.

Statistics released by the World Bank (WB) show that Vietnam’s GDP is expected to double in the next decade, resulting in a three-fold increase in environmental pollution. The figure is forecast to increase five fold by 2025.

Environmental pollution has directly affected human health with about 3% of GDP spent on health care in 2010.

Participating businesses shared their experience in technological renovation and obstacles hindering the process, particularly in green product consumption.