Mobilizing and connecting resources for energy saving
Law No. 77/2025/QH15 amending and supplementing a number of articles of the Law on Energy Saving and Efficiency Use has created more legal basis for the formation of the Fund to promote energy saving and efficiency use.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the design and development of the Fund for Promoting Energy Saving and Efficiency (the Fund) is of great significance. The Fund is designed as a financial tool to mobilize and connect resources from the State, the private sector, financial institutions and development partners into the field of energy saving and efficiency.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, Mr. Mac Quoc Anh - Vice Chairman cum General Secretary of the Hanoi Association of Small and Medium Enterprises - assessed that the formation of a Fund to promote energy saving and efficiency is very necessary. But the most important thing is not "having one more Fund", but what the Fund solves that the current market has not solved.
I expect the Fund to solve the "gap between a technically good project and the ability to be funded financially". Currently, many businesses already know what machinery they need to replace, even have energy audit results, but in the end the project is still on paper because there is no capital or it does not meet the credit conditions. If the Fund only funds conferences, propaganda, training or some demonstration models, it is still necessary, but the biggest bottleneck has not been solved. The Fund must contribute to turning the audited report into an investment project, turning potential into the actual kWh saved" - Mr. Mac Quoc Anh emphasized.
Building a support chain from consulting to capital
From the FDI enterprise side, Mr. Nguyen Trong Luat - General Director of Cicor Vietnam Company, a member of Cicor Group (Switzerland) - assessed that Vietnam has had policies, programs and capital to support green transformation and energy saving, but the question is whether that information has really reached businesses or not.
Large businesses often have a team specializing in finance, technology, environment and energy, so they have the ability to seek and access international capital sources and support programs. But small and medium-sized enterprises are different. They often have to focus first on maintaining production, business and financial efficiency. Not every business has a dedicated department to learn about green credit programs or energy saving support sources.
According to Mr. Nguyen Trong Luat, if the Fund is established, there needs to be a communication and consulting mechanism directly to businesses, which can be through industry associations, business associations and business support organizations.
Businesses need to know specifically: What projects the Fund supports, what is the level of support, what is the interest rate, what are the conditions, what documents are included and how long it takes to process them. This information must be easy to understand and accessible. In particular, procedures for small and medium-sized enterprises need to be simplified. These enterprises do not have much manpower to continuously travel and carry out complex procedures. If the process can be digitized, allowing businesses to learn, register and track records online, the accessibility will be much more convenient" - Mr. Luat said.
Cicor's representative emphasized that the Fund's policy needs to form a complete support chain: Businesses are consulted, energy audited, access to capital, access to technology and supported in the implementation process.
