The largest dairy company in Viet Nam, Vinamilk, has been ranked among top 10 sustainable businesses of the country at the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI) programme 2021 organised by Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

It is the sixth consecutive year Vinamilk has had its name high on the list of sustainable businesses. This award is a recognition of the company’s efforts and commitments to long-term sustainable development goals.

As sustainable development is no longer an option but an inevitable and irreversible trend for businesses, Vinamilk is willing to go to any lengths to achieve those goals.

In 2021, despite difficulties caused by the pandemic, the company still successfully built eco-friendly Vinamilk Green Farms in Tay Ninh, Quang Ngai and Thanh Hoa, and deployed solar panels on all its dairy farms.

Vinamilk’s solar power systems can reach a total capacity of 54MWp and contribute to reducing more than 62 million kilos of CO2 emissions. Such a reduction is equivalent to the absorption of greenhouse gases by over 3.4 million planted trees.

Not only in its commitments to emission reduction, Vinamilk has also commited itself to energy-saving and material-saving in production, and embraced the circular economy model to improve resource-efficiency, lessen negative impact on the environment and lower its carbon footprint.

The dairy company gives back to society by launching support programmes that bring care, protection and assistance to children amid the pandemic, notably the “Vuon cao Viet Nam” Fund. The fund has been helping to improve child nutrition for more than 14 years.

The “Ban khoe manh, Viet Nam khoe manh” campaign, launched by Vinamilk this year, also donated VND10 billion (US$435,303) worth of vaccines and one million glasses of milk to children via the Viet Nam Children’s Fund. So far, the company has offered assistance of more than VND100 billion to community support programmes.

Workers’ health and job security are always the company’s top priority as they are the key to its short-term goals and long-term sustainable development goals. Vinamilk thus has been sparing no effort to offer good incomes, benefits and perks as well as favourable working conditions to its workers.

From more than 600 businesses, the most 10 outstanding ones have been selected and honoured based on CSI criteria. These top 10 are taking the lead on the path to sustainable development and highly praised for their great achievements, namely reduction of emissions and waste, implementation the circular economy model, creating shared values, and job security and a safe working environment for workers.

VCCI president Pham Tan Cong stressed that sustainable business-governance models were “vaccines” which help boost the “immune systems” of businesses. Those who have been honoured are role models with the best immune systems.

“In fact, businesses with sustainable governance models have fared well during the pandemic. They have managed to seize opportunities to thrive, create jobs, expand market share, and make substantial contributions to State budgets and the country’s growth,” Cong said.

“Working towards a decade of sustainable development so that no one is left behind” was also the theme of the 8th Viet Nam Corporate Sustainability Forum held in Ha Noi on December 9.

As the pandemic has negatively impacted every aspect of life, sustainable development has become a good path for businesses to follow to recover and create shared values for a better and sustainable society. — VNS