Environmental Protection is Business Added Value

 

This event aims to promote the dialogue between domestic and international organizations and businesses toward the upcoming third National Environment Conference scheduled to take place late this year.

 

Mr David Champion, Managing Director of Bayer Vietnam Ltd - an exemplary sustainable business model - said: “At Bayer, we believe that the good implementation of corporate social responsibility is one of the core values for our growth and development as well as the environment and the community at large. In recent years, the company has always paid due attention to fulfilling corporate social responsibility, including protecting the environment, which is regarded as an anchor for the sustainable development of the company.

 

More than one hundred years ago, the construction on the first wastewater treatment plant at the company’s headquarters in Leverkusen, Germany proved the clear determination and commitment of the company to environmental protection. In 1998, an initiative of Bayer aiming at improving and raising awareness of young people in environmental protection was successfully launched in Thailand in partnership with the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). Then, the programme became an international project called BYEE (Bayer Young Environmental Envoy) and is currently deployed in over 19 countries.

 

Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh, GCNV Representative and Director of the Business Office of Sustainable Development (SD4B) under the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), said: “Environmental protection is one of hot targets the UN Global Compact Network in Vietnam is striving for. Nowadays, companies, apart from maximising profit, need to find out a new way to exercise corporate social responsibility in which environmental protection commitments will help enterprises to increase their value, win the trust of consumers, and attain sustainable development for its own and the community as a whole.”

 

The robust growth of Vietnam in recent years results from efforts of private economic sector and the business community. Thus, the private sector and enterprises play a very important role in environmental protection. Prof Nguyen Dac Hy, Director of Institute of Ecology and Environment, said: "The global economic integration trend offer opportunities and conditions for socioeconomic development but it also brings in environmental challenges. To make success, businesses need to comply with new international provisions on environments in production, business and consumption.”

 

Companies with good implementation of corporate social responsibility and environmental protection will certainly increase the competitiveness for their products, strengthen their market prestige and upgrade their market profiles. This is a challenge but also an opportunity to improve their own business in the process of international economic integration.

 

According to Dr Do Nam Thang, environmental challenges are now also the opportunity for companies to take advantage. They can join the "green economy" by providing environmental services, technologies, and environment-friendly products. They can also increase their profits by applying environmental protection measures like cleaner production, environmental branding and environment-conscious export production. Products of these companies will definitely have higher competitiveness than those of other companies ignoring environmental protection. Notably, the Government is applying preferential policies for enterprises implementing sustainable development and environmental protection.

 

The workshop offered an opportunity for participants to exchange experiences and understanding on environmental related issues, barriers to the development of organization and businesses as well as opportunities and challenges affecting the organizations and private sector’s development toward the further sustainable development.

 

The Global Compact Network Vietnam (GCNV) is the local network for the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) and is an ally of businesses, non-government organizations, government organizations, universities and institutes in Vietnam.

 

It seeks to align business operations and strategies everywhere with universally accepted principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption.

The GCNV, launched in 2007, is a cutting edge initiative developed in partnership between the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the United Nations in Vietnam (UN). The goal of the GCNV is to identify, anticipate and diffuse corporate social responsibility in Vietnam.

 

The GCNV comprises of over 75 members, consisting of national and international companies, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), academic, United Nations and government agencies in Vietnam.