Clean and Green Production Enhances Competitiveness

 

The workshop "Green Business Model Innovation - from Production to Management" recently organised by the Asian Institute of Technology aims to introduce the green business model, particularly focusing on innovation in helping manufacturers produce cleaner and more friendly-environmental products. The delegates discussed the need to create greater competitive value through the focus on improving green production criteria. Businesses can access new markets if their products have higher quality and meet the requirements of origin for export products. The presentations at the workshop agreed that in the international integration trend, cleaner production has become one of important strategies. During production, cleaner production includes preserving materials and energy, eliminating toxic materials, reducing the amount of toxicity of all emissions of waste at source. For products, cleaner production is done by reducing the negative impact throughout the product lifecycle, from design to disposal.

 

Mr Nguyen Quang Vinh, General Secretary of the Vietnam National Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD), said: Clean and green production will enhance the competitiveness of enterprises. The benefits brought by cleaner and greener production have been seen. Yet many businesses still believe that they have not really grasped all of cleaner production processes to apply them in production.

 

The small and medium-sized enterprises find it hard to successfully apply this production model due to difficulties in capital investment in technology and the business itself is also not aware of all processes to produce cleaner. Also because businesses have to import machinery and technology overseas which are self-contained and automated, it is difficult to adjust one of the stages of production to meet the standards for green and clean manufacturing. Therefore, it is necessary to have comprehensive solutions from input, production process, to the output of the product.

 

Mr Nguyen Van Tuyen, Director of Tien Dat Investment and Service Trading Production Co., Ltd, said that green manufacturers not only benefit themselves but also create sustainable value chain for society. In response to environmental degradation and increasing threat from climate change, many countries in Asia are beginning to transform their economic development pattern towards low carbon emissions. It is the economic development pattern that Vietnam is moving toward. However, developing this model is still discussed when the access to financial resources for the transformation of green business model, especially of the private sector, is still facing difficulty. Financial difficulty is not the main problem; private enterprises lack guidance about green manufacturing model, if there is one, it is much needed and gets active involvement of these enterprises.

 

The Government has also issued several action plans aimed at efficient use of natural resources and all manufacturers are encouraged to adopt cleaner production model. The State also has a number of policy tools to encourage, such as building the legal provisions; setting up economic tools; offering support measures; implementing guidelines to build cleaner production project for businesses. Here are the advantages for businesses towards greater use of cleaner production model in order to enhance competitiveness and improve the quality of products.