The 8th Viet Nam Corporate Sustainability Forum (VCSF) took place on December 9 in Ha Noi, discussing the roadmap for a decade of sustainable development.

The annual event was jointly held by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Viet Nam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD).

Deputy Prime Minister Vu Duc Dam said the trend towards sustainable development was inevitable and irreversible across the world, and Viet Nam was no exception.

During the pandemic, firms that pursue sustainable business models prove to be more resilient and respond far better to dire situations. Therefore, sustainable development should become a pathway not only for big firms but also for medium and small ones, he said.

“All firms, even small ones, should follow a sustainability-oriented pathway right from the start,” he urged.

Viet Nam has successfully reached two out of 17 sustainable development goals set out by the United Nations: quality education, and responsible consumption and production.

Although ticking all the boxes seems to be a real challenge even for the most developed country, Viet Nam is always willing to commit itself to fulfilling all sustainable development goals.

VCCI president Pham Tan Cong noted that sustainable business models would make firms more resilient to a volatile environment, and that firms needed to shift their mindset to sustainable development and view it as their only pathway to resilience.

“Sustainable development is an opportunity to add environmental and social values to firms, equivalent to trillions of dollars,” the VCCI president added.

At the forum, VCCI and VBCSD also announced the list of top 100 sustainable enterprises in 2021, of which 63 were Vietnamese enterprises. These numbers indicate that Vietnamese enterprises are ready for the transition to sustainable development.— VNS