-    Excellency Mr. Kees van Baar, Ambassador of the Netherlands
-    Mr. Mai The Toan, Vice President, Institute of Strategy and Policy on Natural Resources and Environment, MONRE
-    Ms. Le Thi Thanh Thao, Country Representative, UNIDO

Colleagues representatives of the Minitry of Industry and Trade, Ministry of Planing and Investment, development partners, enterprises, universities, and non-goverment organizations

A very good afternoon and Xin chào.

Welcome to today’s event “Harvest Day & Circular Economy Connect”, hosted under the Viet Nam Circular Economy Hub, to celebrate our capacity-building journey, disseminate circular best practices, and foster networking of partners around the CE transition.

In October last year, we launched the Viet Nam Circular Economy Hub, together with the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources and with support from the Netherlands Embassy, the Norwegian Embassy and the Finnish Embassy. The CE Hub was established with three objectives in mind: enhance dialogue, generate know-how, and mobilise collective action towards the transition to Circular Economy in Viet Nam.  Since then, 40 organisations have joined the CE Hub network, over 53 events have been organised, and more than 2,200 users have visited the website in the last month alone.

At UNDP, we firmly believe that Circular Economy is an economic opportunity for Vietnamese businesses. A circular economy is not simply about ‘fixing’ negative environmental externalities, rather, it is an economic transition aiming to sustain and regenerate natural capital, upon which people, communities, and the economy depend. Indeed, research shows that the transition towards a circular economy offers  USD 4.5 trillion  in economic opportunities globally by reducing waste, stimulating innovation, and creating employment.  

In this context, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), which in Viet Nam, make up 96% of the total number of companies, employ 47% of the labour force and contribute 36% to the national value added , have a critical role to play in accelerating the transition towards CE. We need to ensure that businesses are provided with the technical and financial support needed to transform the production and consumption model, align with national policies on CE, and reap the benefits of the trade agreements between Viet Nam and other countries.

Against this backdrop, we hosted several comprehensive circular training programmes, including two training of trainers targeting more than 150 particpants; and two capacity building workshops targeting more than 50 businesses. More recently, the capacity building programme, in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy, trained over 100 businesses operating in various sectors such as agriculture, construction, e-commerce, manufacturing, logistics, environment and waste treatment. The training was followed by incubation for 15 enterprises, who then developed their own circular economy plans and began implementation. Today, you will learn from concrete examples demonstrating the huge potential of enterprises in scaling-up circular business models, adopting low-carbon technologies, and shiting consumption and production models towards greener ones.  

Throughout the implementation of the capacity-building programme, we have learned three key insights.
First, all training should be accessible, replicable, and sustainable. This was our rationale when setting up the Stewardship group on CE comprising 4 universities  and incubators across Viet Nam and we are delighted to witness our partners rolling-out new training programmes building on the knowledge generated together. It also means that all the resources are available on the website of the CE Hub, in Vietnamese, for every practitioner to use.

Second, there is a need to build the capacity of ecosystems that will then deliver practical circular solutions to business. We have been working directly with partners (such as Da Nang Business Incubator, Foreign Trade University, National Economic University, the Institute for Circular Economy Development, Hue Institute for Development Studies, Environmental Economic Policy Institute, Insititue of Circular Economy Development etc. to bolster grassroots and circular innovations.

And Third, we have identified technology transfer and technical guidelines as key enablers for Vietnamese business to transform their business models and establish national circular economy markets, in sectors such as wastewater, eco-design,  and recycling as well as development of a marketplace for secondary materials.

Colleagues and friends,
We are convinced that only by joining hands, fostering communication, knowledge  and technology sharing, will we be able to boost the uptake of CE practices while fostering competitiveness. We stand ready to provide further support to enterprises to strengthen their capacity and business continuity planning, and to catalyze direct exchanges and collaboration between the Viet Nam Circular Economy Hub and other networks.

We would like to take the opportunity to warmly thanks our partners such as Ministry of Industry and Trade, Central Institute for Economic Management, Viet Nam Environment Protection Fund, UNIDO, enterprises and incubators joining us today to share the upcoming activities, programs to support enterprises. We’d also like to express our sincere appreciation to the Embassy of the Netherlands in Viet Nam, for their support and effective cooperation in implementing the joint capacity building programmes.

In closing, allow me to express our honour to collaborate with you all, in advancing the country's transition towards a green, sustainable, and investment-attractive Viet Nam; a prosperous and safe place for people and for the planet.

Thank you! Xin cảm ơn!