Mr. Nguyen Hoang Nam - Deputy General Director, Head of ESG Consulting Services of PwC Vietnam discussed with Lao Dong Newspaper about how to implement and motivate ESG.
Sir, how do you evaluate the implementation of ESG practices in Vietnam?
- Recently, I have noticed a very positive signal about the increase in commitment as well as the implementation of ESG in the Vietnamese market. With 89% of enterprises participating in the PwC Vietnam survey showing commitment, this is a very optimistic number.
In particular, awareness of ESG risks and opportunities is being strongly promoted thanks to many drivers: domestic law compliance requirements, pressure from international customers and investors, demands from financial institutions, as well as the desire from the leadership and staff. Businesses also tend to seek green financial resources to take advantage of preferential capital costs, thereby maintaining and increasing competitive advantages.
Vietnam is only in the early stages of the process of implementing ESG commitments, so the maturity level is not too high. On that basis, I think that the priority of Vietnamese enterprises is to find ways to access sustainable financial sources, green finance.
The advantage of sustainable finance and green finance is low capital costs, but in return, businesses must meet standards and requirements. I hope that with the current positive signals, businesses will continue to act more strongly to make good use of green and sustainable financial resources.
In Europe, management agencies monitor ESG implementation very closely, how does this affect the motivation and speed of ESG implementation in Vietnam?
- Vietnam is a major exporting country to Europe, the US and the Asia-Pacific region, and plays an important role in the global supply chain. Therefore, ESG requirements from these markets will certainly have a strong impact on Vietnamese enterprises, especially export enterprises.
From the survey, we see that businesses have begun to identify risks and opportunities, and at the same time take steps to transform to meet international requirements. I believe that this will be a driving force to help Vietnam maintain a competitive advantage.
In your opinion, what is the role of consulting institutions, financial institutions and state agencies in promoting ESG in Vietnam?
- In my opinion, these organizations can support businesses in three main aspects. First, raising awareness and methods of ESG implementation. Second, build a preferential mechanism to encourage businesses, both helping them fulfill their national commitments and reaching international standards. Third, businesses need to focus on preparing reports according to international standards, ensuring complete and reliable data; should hire auditing organizations to increase transparency with partners.
In the process of implementing ESG, what difficulties are Vietnamese enterprises facing?
- The first difficulty is that Vietnam does not have mandatory regulations or a specific legal framework, so businesses mainly refer to international reporting frameworks. The next big challenge is collecting data for the sustainability report.
ESG human resources in Vietnam are only in the early stages, needing to be trained and raise awareness more. Thereby, new personnel can assess risks, ESG opportunities and integrate them into operational strategies.
According to PwC's surveys, businesses recommend: Continue to practice ESG in line with Vietnam's international commitments, and at the same time hope to have more preferential policies from the state, especially tax incentives and green finance policies to support access to capital. They also expect consulting and financial institutions to support capacity building, prepare standard reports, and connect with international green capital sources.
Thank you!
