Hanoi (VNA) – How businesses benefit from the 2030 Agenda and their responsibility for sustainable development was 💝highlighted at a forum in Hanoi on April 7.

With 17 goals, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls on businesses to drive the economy towards equality, sustainability and deeper integration, according to Vice Secretary General of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Nguyen Quang Vinh, who is also Representative of the Global Compact Network Vietnam (GCNV). He urged local enterprises to join the GCNV as this is a pragmatic access method, helping them turn sustainable development goals (SDGs) into reality. The VCCI and the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) will work as pioneers in realising such goals and provide Vietnam-based firms with guidelines, networks, knowledge and acknowledgement on their path towards sustainable development, Vinh promised. Established in 2010, the VBCSD now brings together 70 enterprises which have taken the lead in launching initiatives relating to sustainable development, he added. Besides this, the VCCI has partnered with a number of international partners in a project aimed at connecting small-sized producers and households in Vietnam with their foreign partners in the global value chain. Florian Beranek, Lead Expert on Social Responsibility at the UN Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), said businesses should be inspired to fulfill the SDGs. Pratibha Mehta, UN Resident Coordinator in Vietnam, said the UN sees businesses as key development partners as they play a central role in reaching the SDGs. However, she said, it is also the responsibility of all people to meet the objectives. Vietnamese businesses should directly take part in green growth in the context of climate change, particularly the ongoing severe drought and saltwater intrusion in the Mekong Delta, she said. The delegates also discussed initiatives, opportunities and challenges during the implementation of the SDGs. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which is composed of 17 goals and 169 targets to wipe out poverty, fight inequality and tackle climate change over the next 15 years, was adopted by 193 members of the UN General Assembly on September 25, 2015.-VNA