The pressure of businesses to ‘be both green and digitally transform’

“Modern but harmful to electricity”, Dr. Can Van Luc, Member of the National Financial and Monetary Policy Advisory Council, said when talking about the dual transformation task (both digital transformation and green transformation) of businesses.

He gave an example with the development of 5G networks. When using 5G, it will consume three times more energy than 2G, 3G and 4G combined. “This shows that the problem of energy saving is extremely important as technology develops,” he said at the 2nd Vietnam New Economic Forum organized by VnEconomy and the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM). ) held on October 16.

Thanks to dual transformation, businesses can sustainably increase productivity and economic efficiency, enhance resilience and adapt to climate change, and minimize or eliminate greenhouse gas emissions. . Competitiveness to attract investment and exports will gradually improve.

Many businesses are also aware of having to “both digitally and greenly transform” in the current context.

As a unit specializing in manufacturing and trading garments for export, PPJ Group is more aware of the need to transform itself to go deeper into the global supply chain. The US, EU, Japan, Korea… markets have issued strict regulations on imported goods, requiring manufactured goods to comply with environmental and sustainable development requirements. .

According to Mr. Dang Vu Hung, Chairman of the Board of Directors, General Director of PPJ Group, they proactively transformed before the Covid epidemic by targeting the global market from the beginning. Thanks to that, they have time to meticulously research core science and technology, avoiding being caught off guard when an incident occurs. Here, technology contributes to controlling the amount of water consumed to produce jeans with just one cup of water.

However, to do that comes with a lot of pressure, especially financially. According to PPJ Group representatives, over the past 5 years they have invested up to 5 million USD in hardware and software and tens of millions of USD for green transformation. “This number will not stop. The cost of double conversion is very large, but the price for slow conversion and not converting will be many times greater,” Mr. Hung said.

Finance is also a problem that TH Group realized during the dual transformation process when owning a herd of up to 70,000 dairy cows.

Mr. Ngo Minh Hai, CEO of TH Group, said that this business has invested in a chip system attached to the legs and neck of cows to monitor health, milk output, estrus time, and thereby manage reproduction. Providing food for cows is also 100% automated from the stage of rations, mixing and processing to each vehicle going right to the door of each barn. Farm waste is also separated and processed into microbial fertilizer, not only used in farming but also sold on the market.

By applying double conversion, the group gradually forms a circular chain, aiming to optimize costs. Each year, the solar panels installed on the factory roof can produce about 8 million kWh on their own. Instead of fossil raw materials, wood chips are used to burn the boiler, reducing total greenhouse emissions by 85% compared to 2021 and reducing methane emissions by 70% compared to conventional treatment.

Due to the need for large initial capital, Mr. Ngo Minh Hai assessed that for many businesses, dual transformation thinking only stops at the level of awareness and initial implementation.

To meet the targets, according to Mr. Dang Vu Hung, businesses need to invest heavily in technology and equipment for environmental measurement and assessment and map out a roadmap for sustainable development.

According to businesses, Vietnam currently lacks skilled and brave human resources to promptly grasp and master technology. Some parties have had to hire foreign human resources to take on key mid- to high-level personnel, creating faster efficiency. “The lack of a clear legal corridor to appraise a green project also makes the granting of green credit encounter many obstacles,” Mr. Hung added.

From the perspective of management agencies, Dr. Tran Thi Hong Minh, Director of CIEM, said that developing policies to serve the dual transition process is still facing many difficulties. Because reality shows that the business community has not invested much, not deployed much, and not benefited much from the digital and green transformation process.

This leads to the fact that policy-making agencies lack practical data at the enterprise level to develop more specific and relevant policies. For example, without information and coordination from businesses, officials and civil servants will never be able to research and concretize specific standards for circular economy projects in a field. specific area.

As an enterprise specializing in providing platforms, Dr. Thieu Phuong Nam, General Director of Qualcomn Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, said that to relieve some of the pressure in dual transformation, businesses need to set clear goals and promote Creative culture right from within. Accordingly, businesses need to be ready with digital infrastructure, not only depending on national infrastructure but also developing their own platforms such as AI. Human resources are also an important factor for success.

The Circular Economy Development Project approved in 2022 has outlined tasks and solutions that contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity by at least 15% by 2030, aiming to reduce net emissions to zero ( Net Zero) by 2050. Dr. Can Van Luc proposed to soon issue a green list and classification, from there there will be green finance, green credit and many other green factors. This will contribute to having an action plan soon, concretizing the circular economic development mentioned above.