GGSC participated EuroCham Whitebook 2017 Launch in Hanoi

On March 2nd in Hanoi, the European Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam (EuroCham) released the 9th edition of its annual publication on trade and investment issues and recommendations to the Goverment: the Whitebook 2017.
To fulfill its mission of facilitating Green Business to benefit  Vietnam, the Green Growth Sector Committee (GGSC) prepared 2 chapters for this edition: Chapter 2. Energy & Electricity and Chapter 3. Green Growth.
The Whitebook launch included 4 Panel discussions, speeches by Government officials and a presentation on the status of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).
Participating in the Panel discussion on “Sustainable & Efficiency”, Mr. Tomaso Andreatta, GGSC Chairman presented critical issues in renewable energy development and green growth status of Vietnam; he also made recommendations on how to handle these issues for Vietnamese Government and its agencies.
After the presentation, Mr. Tomaso and the representatives from the relevant ministries had a direct dialogue to understand more the problems that each party is facing to and to find together found feasible solutions to overcome them.
Answering the question from Mr. Tomaso about the plans to allow the private sector to contribute to the goals of the Power Development Plan VII , Mr. Dang Huy Cuong – Director General of the General Department of Energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade shared “Private sector now accounts for about 23% of power generation sector. In the power transmission sector, according to the Government plan, BOT projects and projects from private investors will account for 40% of total installed capacity by 2030. This is a positive ratio to private investors. In the power retail sector, the equitization rate will be from 50% to 60%.”
Mr. Tomaso mentioned the difficulties in privatizing companies, the cumbersome process in approving BOT project and the bureaucratic way that projects are managed now in Vietnam. Agreeing with the comments of Mr. Tomaso, Mr. Dang Huy Cuong emphasized that due to the complicated regulations system, to be approved, BOT projects have to satisfy a lot of conditions. This is also a big challenge for Vietnamese Government in improving legal document system, creating more policies to attract investors. The Government has requested its agencies to make modifications, improve and shorten the process for BOT projects approval.
Answering  the query about the Government’s  timetable for allowing the Direct Power Purchase Agreements of the large company, Mr. Dang Huy Cuong quoted some related decrees and emphasized that the Government in general and MOIT in particular need more time to prepare the framework, infrastructure, etc. MOIT will gradually implement and have the following specific documents.
On the final question about the management of the Ministry of Construction (MOC) in planning, designing process of construction to manage mining activities and construction materials production, Mr. Nguyen Cong Thinh, Deputy Director General of Science, Technology and Environment Department, MOC said “MOC has issued QCVN 09:2013/BXD – National technical regulation on energy efficiency buildings. In the fields of construction materials production, MOC  has advised the Government to develop policies specifically regulating the planning of mineral mining and cement production. In 2016, the Prime Minister issued Directive No. 25/CT-TTg on a number of urgent tasks and solutions for environmental protection. MOC has also promulgated an action plan in which we are reviewing and evaluating major sources of waste especially for construction materials such as cement, brick, tile, ceramics, glass production, etc. to ensure compliance with the requirements of environmental protection; in the future, all construction materials production companies will have to apply advanced technology to meet the goal of environmental protection. We hope that EuroCham will continue to be the bridge between Vietnam and European advanced technology companies in the process of renovate buildings towards energy efficiency.”
After the Whitebook launch 2017,  EuroCham had a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Pham Binh Minh in Hanoi on March 3. Participated in the meeting, Mr. Tomaso once again emphasized concerned issues of GGSC in renewable energy development and green growth status of Vietnam to Mr. Pham Binh Minh and his staff.
GGSC will follow up in these issues with relevant ministries and keep you posted on the progress.