12:00 19/07/2023

Netherlands & UNDP supporting Vietnam’s circular economy

Diep Linh

Two reinforce their partnership and shared commitment to driving the acceleration of the circular economy in Vietnam’s private sector.

Netherlands & UNDP supporting Vietnam’s circular economy - Ảnh 1H.E. Kees van Baar, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Vietnam, and Ms. Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, at the signing ceremony. Source: The Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam

 

The Embassy of the Netherlands and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) signed an arrangement on July 18 in Hanoi to introduce the Accelerate Circular Economy for Business (ACE-Biz) project.

“The strengthened cooperation between the Embassy and the UNDP underscores our shared commitment to driving the acceleration of circular economy practices in Vietnam’s private sector,” said H.E. Kees van Baar, Ambassador of the Netherlands to Vietnam. “Together, we will leverage our expertise, resources, and networks to support Vietnamese businesses in transitioning towards a more sustainable and circular economy, thereby contributing to a greener future.”

Ms. Ramla Khalidi, UNDP Resident Representative in Vietnam, said it is proud to reinforce its partnership with the Embassy of the Netherlands in advancing the circular economy agenda in Vietnam’s private sector. “By combining our knowledge and experience, we can drive transformative change and empower businesses to adopt sustainable practices, leading to a more resilient and prosperous future for Vietnam,” she said.

The project aims to contribute to Vietnam’s low-carbon and circular development by transforming business, through formulating circular guidelines, delivering capacity-building programs and fostering technology transfer, and demonstrating the certification scheme to promote exchanges of secondary materials and reusable goods through an online marketplace.

 

Source: Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam
Source: Embassy of the Netherlands in Vietnam

 

ACE-Biz will be jointly implemented by government bodies, including the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and private sector partners and academia from both Vietnam and the Netherlands, as well as the Nam Cau Kien Industrial Park, the NX Filtration Company, and the Saxion University of Applied Sciences in the Netherlands.

The new project will facilitate the development of comprehensive technical guidelines, enabling enterprises to integrate circular design principles and adopt circular industrial wastewater models. It will also offer tailored capacity-building programs, equipping Vietnamese businesses with the knowledge and skills to demonstrate green production methods and reduce environmental pollution through circular economy practices. The cooperation aims to drive tangible change and establish a solid foundation for sustainable economic growth by nurturing a network of circular economy champions in the private sector.

The ACE-Biz project represents a crucial step towards realizing Vietnam’s vision of a circular economy. Building upon the success of the Capacity Building Program for Enterprises, implemented last year and which trained over 104 businesses and led to seven formulating plans to transition / adopt circular business models, the project will address identified gaps, limitations, and the practical needs of Vietnamese enterprises.