HÀ NỘI — It is critical to advance the partnership of women-led firms with providers of green technology and green finance programmes, to enhance women’s economic empowerment in the context that green growth has become a vital trend, heard a conference held on Wednesday in Hà Nội.

The conference was co-organised by the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), within the framework of the UNEP’s funded women for climate-resilient societies programme (EmPower), which began in January.

Deputy Chairwoman of the VCCI’s Việt Nam Women Entrepreneurs Council, Mai Thị Diệu Huyền, advancing the partnership towards green growth for women-led firms is considered to be the key to creating a business environment in which women can contribute to green and sustainable growth.

Women and firms they lead, play an important role in green growth and sustainable development, Nguyễn Thanh Phương, an UN environmental specialist said, adding that the EmPower programme has set up women-led business models which use energy-saving technologies and renewable energies in production and business.

Renewable energy will continue to be one of the focuses of the programme’s next period to support the green transition and achieve sustainable goals, he said.

To achieve this, it is necessary to raise technology and financial solutions for these companies and enhance women’s economic empowerment, Phương said.

At the conference, Nguyễn Minh Thảo, head of the Business Environment and Competitiveness Department under the Central Institute for Economic Management, pointed out that seven groups of export products which wil be affected by green deals, including electronics, information technology, machinery and equipment, agro-forestry-fishery products, foods, garments and footwear, chemicals, steel, aluminum and cement and food packaging.

It is a challenge, but also an opportunities to push producers towards renovating production technology towards green production, she added.

Thảo also urged the Government to improve the policy framework about carbon reduction, promoting renewable energy, green taxonomy, green finance as well as issuing policies to support enterprises towards green growth.

Thảo also said that companies should make early preparations in terms of improving competitiveness through capital, technology, human resource, carbon emission and governance.

According to Oliver Rowntree from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), companies, especially those which are women-led, are still facing with numerous challenges in green transformation because most are small.

He pointed out major challenges to women-led firms during green transformation, including difficulty in finding finance and shortage of support.

Stressing that funding is the biggest challenge, he said that it is necessary to develop financial support programmes by the Government or others to help the firms on their path towards green growth. — VNS