In the afternoon of May 25^th 2012, at the Government Office, the Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan, Chairman of National Council for Sustainable Development had a meeting with delegates from Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD), led by Dr. Doan Duy Khuong, Vice Executive President of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and Mr. Indronil Sengupta, Chief Executive (South East Asia Projects) from TATA Steel group.

Attending the meeting were representatives from 10 enterprises, representing 45 VBCSD’s members. At the meeting, on behalf of the VBCSD’s Executive Board, Mr. Sengupta reported a summary of VBCSD results such as Communication and Awareness for the Vietnam business community on sustainable development, Research, Training and International Cooperation.

 

The focus of the meeting is the submission two draft reports on "Economic Empowerment of Women " and "Green Buildings" to the Deputy Prime Minister. Two reports mentioned three areas of “People’s values”, “Human development”, and "Buildings " in Vision 2050, a new agenda for business towards sustainable development initiated by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development(WBCSD) and being implementing  62 country members of the WBCSD Regional Networks, including VBCSD ofVietnam.
 
Economic Empowerment of Women, according VBCSD, will help further liberate productive forces and profoundly impact on social issues. The proposed solutions include increasing the participation of women in the field of technique through incentives in admission of students to technological universities and colleges, encouraging businesswomen to participate in guest-speakings, specifying the rate of female leader in state-owned enterprises,  offering tax incentives for businesses which use more female employees, reducing of registration fees or asset transactions under women name, offering preferential interest rates on deposits for women, offering women-friendly procedures in bank loans, raising the retirement age of women equal to men’s for more opportunities in career advancement, earning and employment. The report also bring out some international case studies which can be applied in Vietnam.

 

The Deputy Prime Minister confirmed the Government's principle in creating equal opportunities for women in all fields and requesting VBCSD to introduce the best and specific practices in the world, and complete the recommendations in collaboration with The Vietnam Women's Union. Deputy Prime Minister also emphasized the importance of raising awareness about the Economic Empowerment of Women in state management bodies as well as in the business sector.

The recommendations to promoting “Green Buildings” in Vietnam, including development of legal framework, encouraging the application of green building criteria such as 'Lotus' in buildings invested by the State Budget so as state sector will become the pioneer for construction sector in using energy, materials, and water resources efficiently as well as waste treatment. The "Green Building" report also proposes measures to improve the architecture and construction in Vietnam, including the improvement of training curriculum on buildings for more environment-friendly..

 

The Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan recognized the recommendations proposed by the VBCSD and urged VBCSD to work with  Ministry of Construction and relevant ministries for further improvement. The Deputy Prime Minister expressed  interest in the possibility to apply green building criteria in social housing programs and the industrials works. The Deputy Prime Minister suggested  that we should start step by step, stage by stage, such as building materials, building cooling systems. In addition, we have to raise awareness in the construction sector through workshops, trade fairs, exhibitions and forums for dialogue among management agencies, investors, consultants, and contractors to complete policies and introduce some exemplary models.

 

  
In the coming time, the Deputy Prime Minister suggested VBCSD to study some solutions to mobilizing investment in training of labour forces for the business sector; introducing good models, criteria,  practices and the champion of large companies and corporations who have resources, experiences, and commitment to sustainable development in Vietnam.

At the end of the meeting, the Deputy Prime Minister appreciated the efforts of VBCSD in the past and encouraged VBCSD to better perform its activities, mobilizing business solutions to the sustainable development of the nation.