HÀ NỘI — As Việt Nam grows faster on the global economic stage, the need for sustainability is becoming more urgent. ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance – principles are now seen not just as international standards but as essential strategies.

“ESG is not a trend – it is an essential strategy,” said Sam Hanna, former CEO & Vice President of Strategy at ASEAN Shell Global Lubricants and current Director of the EMBA programme at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT).

Speaking at the forum on digital transformation and ESG as the key to global economic integration hosted by Dân Trí newspaper and VietinBank on Tuesday, Hanna emphasised that Việt Nam’s dynamic momentum, marked by strong GDP growth and a substantial rise in foreign direct investment, has positioned the country at a crucial turning point.

The real challenge lies in making sure this growth is sustainable, inclusive and resilient.

“Việt Nam is at a crucial juncture, where it must balance two urgent goals — to grow rapidly, but also sustainably,” he said.

Hanna stressed that ESG must move beyond Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).

“CSR is voluntary. ESG is a far more structured framework where companies need to report to keep everybody honest,” he explained.

In sectors like sustainable timber, electric vehicles and clean energy, green finance initiatives in Việt Nam have already attracted over $120 million in international investment. Still, the adoption of ESG principles remains patchy.

80 per cent of Vietnamese companies have either committed to or are planning to adopt ESG standards, but 34 per cent have no ESG programmes in place. Only 15 per cent of Vietnamese firms publish full ESG reports, and over 70 per cent disclose little or no ESG data, Hanna noted.

This gap between intention and implementation is even more concerning in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

“Over time, constraints have changed. In the past, we didn’t talk about environment or social responsibility, but now these are key challenges SMEs must address to stay competitive,” said Dr Lương Thái Bảo, head of the Department of International Finance at the National Economics University in Hà Nội.

ESG and digital transformation can be both goals and tools, depending on the industry and size of the business. Companies facing global competition are more likely to invest in ESG, while many domestic market-focused firms are not yet ready due to high costs and limited support.

According to Bảo, currently about 15 banks in Việt Nam have internal green credit strategies. In theory, green loans should offer better interest rates, but regulations and risk-sharing mechanisms are still unclear.

“Still, banks need to diversify services, including green finance. Those further along in digital transformation already show more balanced income beyond just lending,” Bảo said.

Việt Nam has introduced ambitious policies, including Decree 06/2022/NĐ-CP, which mandates emissions reporting for many enterprises. However, both experts argue that the real bottleneck is not policy, but people.

“No matter how good your strategy or technology is, it will fail without capable people,” said AIT Việt Nam director Phùng Văn Đông. He said he believes that human capital is the single most critical pillar of Việt Nam’s green and digital transition.

“ESG requires interdisciplinary skills – people who understand not only finance or technology, but how these interact with environmental and social metrics. And we don’t have enough of them,” he warned.

The numbers are stark. Việt Nam will need 700,000 ICT professionals by the end of the year, and only about 550,000 are currently in the workforce. Even among university graduates, just 30 per cent are considered job-ready. In ESG-specific roles, the gap is wider.

VietinBank offers a promising case study. As one of the country’s pioneers in ESG financing, the bank has disbursed around $1.8 billion in green loans and launched a support package worth VNĐ5 trillion ($192 million) for businesses transitioning toward sustainability. But these successes also bring mounting pressure.

“Businesses need ESG-literate personnel to access and implement green financing – and many simply don’t have that capacity yet,” said Đông.

To address this, he emphasises the need for collaboration between multiple stakeholders including educational organisations, companies, banks and government agencies to deliver flexible training programmes, particularly in underdeveloped provinces and among women-led SMEs.

As Việt Nam moves forward, ESG, innovation and digital transformation will change the way businesses grow and how they are evaluated. This journey can’t rely on policy alone. It needs strong leadership, the right technology and, most importantly, skilled people who are ready to build a greener, more competitive economy.

“Việt Nam has talent, momentum and vision to lead in ESG, not to follow,” said Hanna.  — VNS