Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Thanh Binh speaking at the conference

Experience from Thua Thien Hue province

The Permanent Vice Chairman Nguyen Thanh Binh shares at the conference that being located on the East-West economic corridor, Thua Thien Hue constantly prioritized the application of economic model solutions. The green economy has replaced traditional economic models to promote the transformation of the urban economic model towards green growth. This helps improve competitiveness, ensure rapid, effective, and sustainable economic development in urban areas, improve citizens' material and spiritual life, and enhance the urban's capacity for climate change resilience and response.

At this conference, Thua Thien Hue wishes to introduce its efforts in providing solutions and policies to support businesses and citizens, diversify products, and enhance digital transformation in socio-economic fields, and its practical experience for sustainable green development, contributing to promoting local socio-economic development in the coming period.

Accordingly, the province increases meetings and sharing sessions to raise awareness and strongly transform actions on green growth among leaders at all levels in State management agencies, sectors, localities, and businesses. It also promotes the exchange of experiences in urban planning, synchronous development of urban infrastructure, the insurance of traffic, landscape, environmental sanitation, and resilience to impacts of climate change, smart urban development, and the promotion of the application of information technology and green building technology in the planning, design and construction process.

At the same time, Thua Thien Hue strengthens its cooperation in response to climate change, resource management, and environmental protection in accordance with development trends in the new situation, ensuring its orientation in improving climate change response capacity, effective and sustainable resource use, and environment protection; promoting international cooperation, and attracting foreign direct investment in green growth fields such as clean energy, tourism, information technology, agriculture, industry, consumption...

Green growth for sustainable development

 Delegates at the conference

At the conference, delegates affirm that the energy transition is an ongoing trend in the world, and Vietnam, specifically the Central region, is no exception to this trend. International investors all agree that Vietnam in general and the Central region in particular have certain advantages in promoting the energy transition process and sustainable development associated with green growth, with natural conditions and specific geographical location in the East-West Economic Corridor.

To grasp and promote these opportunities, it is necessary to resolve the issue of mechanisms and policies to attract resources from the private sector to accompany local management agencies in developing renewable energy towards the achievement of Vietnam's emissions reduction goals. Besides waiting for policies from the Central government, localities can proactively be aware of development opportunities in the energy transition process and seize these opportunities to create motivation for local economic development.

Ms. Susan Burns, US Consulate General in Ho Chi Minh City, shares that it is essential for Vietnam to quickly shift its approach to sustainable energy. The United States committed to spending USD 1.0 billion to support Vietnam's resilience to climate change and the creation of sustainable renewable energy. These includes successful projects implemented in Thua Thien Hue on biodiversity conservation and plastic waste reduction, active implementation of a strong energy transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy and new energy to reduce emissions of pollutants and greenhouse gases, reaching the net zero emissions target by 2050. The United States hopes these efforts will help promote Hue as a leading destination.

Mr. Chris Valoon, representative of AmCham Vietnam, concludes and emphasizes that Vietnam is one of the 10 countries most affected by climate change. The United States will help Vietnam in general and Thua Thien Hue in particular solve complex problems of climate change, including technology transfer, sharing professional knowledge, developing high-quality human resources, and advanced green initiatives. The United States cooperates closely with the Government of Vietnam and provincial governments in the green transition process and works closely with the business community, especially key industries, to bring green technology and support them during their green transition.

Green growth is an important content of sustainable development and is a development process that has a close, reasonable and harmonious combination of socio-economic development and environmental protection to meet the needs of current generation without affecting future generations. The practical issues discussed at the conference will actively contribute to promoting green growth in the East Asia region, positively contributing to the socio-economic development of localities in the coming time.

Story and photos: THAI SON