Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam CorporateSustainability Forum 2017 took place in Hanoi on October 10, seeking to scaleup business solutions to sustainability challenges.

Opening the event, Chairman of the VietnamChamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) Vu Tien Loc said as one of the 193 UNmember countries adopting the 2030 Agenda with 17 sustainable development goals(SDGs), Vietnam has asserted its vision and resolve to, together with theworld, follow the path to green growth. Its Government has issued a nationalprogramme on sustainable development and set up the National Council forSustainable Development.

VCCI also established the Vietnam BusinessCouncil for Sustainable Development, which gathers hundreds of enterprisesvolunteering to act as the core of sustainable business models in the country.

Loc cited the “Better Business, Better World”report issued by the Business and Sustainable Development Commission as sayingthat sustainable business opportunities to realise the Global Goals in the foursurveyed economic systems could create a market worth an estimated 12 trillionUSD by 2030. Achieving the Global Goals in these four systems could create 380million new jobs by 2030, almost 90 percent of them in developing countries.

The report also said Asia will have the mostbusiness opportunities created by sustainable development, he noted, describingthis as a wonderful momentum for Vietnamese firms to follow a more sustainableand humane development path.

Kamal Malhotra, UN Resident Coordinator inVietnam, said the business community should be considered an important part ofthe economy, not just a channel to mobilise capital. 

It is necessary to boost financial sources,improve manpower quality and devise cooperation solutions to promote thedevelopment of private businesses. Meanwhile, the private economic sector needsto have joint plans and actions on corporate rights and obligations, he added.

Nguyen Quang Vinh, Vice Chairman of the VietnamBusiness Council for Sustainable Development, said the achievement of the 17SDGs depends much on businesses’ actions. He noted that the number of companiesmaking sustainability reports has doubled over the last five years.

However, Vinh admitted that most enterpriseshave trouble in their approach to the SDGs while the global awareness ofsustainable development remains low. Businesses’ influence in the sustainabledevelopment process is still modest.

To do better business for a better world, it iscrucial to support enterprises to combine the SDGs with their developmentstrategies and gear the financial system towards sustainable investmentorientations, Vinh said.-VNA