Vietnam aims for just four key industries

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Viet Nam this week announced an action plan that maps out strategies to develop four key industries to raise the country’s competence in production and service supply.

Viet Nam-Japan co-operation, agricultural machinery, agro-fishery processing, environmental industry

Tuna processing for export at Ba Hai Joint Stock Company in central Phu Yen Province. Viet Nam has announced an action plan to develop four key industries, including agro-fishery processing. 

Under the framework of Viet Nam-Japan co-operation from 2020 to 2030, the industries are electronics, agricultural machinery, agro-fishery processing, and environmental industry and energy conservation. These industries are viewed as playing a leading role in attracting foreign investments and popularising technologies and skills in the economy.

Viet Nam aims to raise the annual value of these industries by at least 20 per cent and ensure a 35-per cent minimal contribution from these industries to the nation’s total industrial value by 2020.

By 2030, the country expects to become a major producer of electronics components using advanced environment-friendly technology.

Nguyen Thi Tue Anh, deputy head of the Central Institute for Economic Management (CIEM), said Viet Nam and Japan would co-operate to create an ideal environment for State and private sector investors and set up the criteria for, conduct assessments on and analyse the features of each target industry.

Doan Xuan Hoa, deputy head of the Department of Processing and Trade for Agro-Forestry-Fishery Products and Salt Production, said: “It’s very important to decide which regions will play a key role and which enterprises will be flagships so as to put the action plan in practice.”

Viet Nam’s Government has implemented major projects to improve legal frameworks for the agricultural machinery industry and enable farmers to produce quality goods at competitive prices. The plan aims to increase per capita GDP in the agricultural sector from $740 in 2010 to $2,000 in 2020.

In fisheries, the Government plans to help domestic producers develop world-standard technologies and expand market research activities to make Viet Nam’s processed foods more visible and competitive in the global market.

To bolster environmental and energy conservation, policymakers in Ha Noi aim to subsidise and increase financial concessions to companies that work in this sector.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development will work with the Embassy of Japan in Viet Nam and Japan International Cooperation Agency to organise trade exchanges among companies.

Available at VNS/VNN

Improving productivity in Myanmar’s garment factories

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From 28th July to 15th August 2014, the German textile company ESGE conducted its third working visit with the SMART Myanmar team. Ms. Barbara Waeschle, garment technician from ESGE’s quality department, worked closely with the more than one dozen garment factories that are embracing the productivity and technical support offered by the SMART Myanmar project. During this visit, Ms. Waeschle also closely guided and instructed SMART’s SCP Trainees (nine young Myanmar engineering graduates) on how to assess and support the SMART factories as they work to improve their product quality control in accordance with international standards.

The main objective of this visit was to increase the skills and practical knowledge of production among the garment producers. Ms. Waeschle visited and suggested ways to improve sewing techniques in 7 factories, including: Rising White Tiger, Shwe Yee Zabe, Grand Sport, Wa Minn, Tri Sea, Shwe Sakar (2) and Princess Power. After visiting these factories, she – together with the local SCP Trainees – developed production catalogues for each factory. The production catalogues include suggestions about how to correct the less productive and efficient methods of production. Factories which follow these catalogues can reduce extra work, increase quality standards of workmanship, reduce waste and energy consumption and enjoy cleaner and safer working environments. The catalogues were written in both Myanmar and English to ensure maximum impact and educational cross-sharing. 

A reference for such catalogues can be downloaded here.

Ms. Waeschle also introduced the AQL 2.5 (Acceptance Quality Level 2.5) which is the production quality inspection method for most consumer goods. Following this, the SCP Trainees developed AQL 2.5 forms both in Myanmar and English and explained to the factories how to utilize them. Ms. Waeschle and the SCP team also visited the factories of: Hall Mark, Myanmar Synergy, Golden Jasmine, Thiri Sandar and Maple for production improvement follow-ups.

ESGE’s visit and support for the SMART Myanmar project is proving to be very fruitful, as their collaboration is increasing the skills and efficiency of local producers, thus leading to cost and efficiency savings. Furthermore, this experience can create replaceable lessons from which other local factories can learn and benefit.

Source: switch-asia.eu

The participation of SUPA project in Vietfish fair 2014 and Vietnam Pangasius Forum

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The EU co-funded “Establishing a Sustainable Pangasius Supply Chain in Viet Nam (SUPA)” has being implemented by Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre (VNCPC), along with project’s partners: WWF Vietnam, WWF Austria and Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP), aimed to promote sustainable and environmentally friendly Pangasius production in Viet Nam.

From 6th to 8th August 2014, SUPA project has participated in Vietnam Fisheries International Exhibition (Vietfish 2014) and its booth broadcast the information regarding activities and outcomes of the project to enterprises in the pangasius supply chain. On the day before, the 5th August, SUPA project also hosted a tour of the pangasius farming area in Ben Tre province and processing facility in Godaco Seafood Company located in My Tho Industrial Park, Tien Giang province. The visitors included European importers, retailers together with representatives for local and international media and ASC certificates. In addition, there was presentation of big importer companies in Brazil, Kazakhstan, etc.

V1The meeting between importer-visitors and the Godaco company  V2Visiting the processing site in Godaco company

During the tour, the importers were highly appreciated the quality and production’s scale in order to meet the standards for exporting. What being observed from this field trip was far from the imagine the importers obtained from the broadcast media in Europe and South America.

 V3Exhibition booth of SUPA project in Vietfish 2014 V4Mr Hoang Thanh (Programme Officer of European Union in Vietnam) and Ms Esther Luiten (Manager Commercial Marketing of ASC), visited the exhibition booth of SUPA project

In this event of Vietfish 2014, SUPA project joined together with VASEP to organize Vietnam Pangasius Forum, titled:” Towards sustainable growth for pangasius in Europe” and its presentations on Vietnam Pangasius market with challenges and difficulties by speakers from Directorate of Fisheries (Ministry of Agricultural and Rural Development), Ministry of Industry and Trade, SUPA project, ANOVA Seafood company (the Netherlands) and ASC certification organization.

V5Speakers at the Forum  V6Representatives at the Forum

The Forum was attended by more than 200 representatives, which included nearly 100 representatives from 80 Pangasius producing and processing companies, representatives for local policy management authorities in Mekong river delta, certification organizations, importers from Europe, South America and North America, etc. At the Forum, there were numerous questions and concerns for importing markets, especially European market as well as necessary standards for importing and exporting.

Through the success of Vietfish fair 2014, SUPA project partners will join together to organize the Annual Forum in order to build a channel of exchange information for producers, importers and experts, policy makers with the aim of a sustainable and prosper Vietnam Pangasius development.

VNCPC admin

Leapfrog Project: A Jump Ahead in Sustainable Innovation

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The Leapfrog Project is a joint initiative from the Vietnam Cleaner Production Center (a UNIDO / UNEP entity), TU Delft University (Netherlands) and Dassault Systèmes to bring the 3DEXPERIENCE Platform, training and support for eco-design to the next generation of designers and engineers in emerging countries, such as Vietnam.

VNCPC participated in the 11th Asia Pacific Roundtable for Sustainable Consumption and Production (APRSCP)

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11th APRSCP

In light of the current global framework, the 11th APRSCP “Paving the Way for the Future We Want” held in Bangkok, Thailand continued engaging multi-stakeholders in developing and implementing innovative policy solutions, up-scaling technology and knowledge benchmarking, approaches and instruments towards the development and implementation programmes on SCP. This event attracted about 300 participants, including governmental officials, researchers, international and local NGO experts, students and the press.

During the 19th – 20th May 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand, the 11th APRSCP has provided a platform for multi-stakeholders from Asia and the Pacific to come together to:

–          Promote best practices, programs, local initiatives and lessons learned on SCP related projects in the region.

–          Identify synergies and build cooperation to engage actively in the development and implementation of the 10-Year Framework of Programmes (10YFP) on SCP Patterns.

–          Enhance discussions on Paving the Way for the Future We Want in the Region by sharing experiences and lessons learned in scaling up existing and new SCP technologies, strategies, tools and approaches through re4search and information awareness, capacity building, financing, and monitoring and evaluation.

The roundtable has had 2 plenary sessions. The 1st plenary session focused on Public – Private Regional Policies, Initiatives and Cooperation toward SCP and Green Growth where speakers and participants shared regional, national and local best practices, programs, initiatives and lessons learned on SCP related projects in Asia and the Pacific region. The 2nd plenary session discussed SCP Regional Program/Activities particularly the main outcomes and follow up of Rio+20 related to SCP such as identifying synergies and building cooperation to engage actively in the development and implementation of the 10YFP in the region.

11th APRSCP

The roundtable sessions were classified based on 5 priority areas on SCP, including:

–          Roundtable 1: SCP in planning and implementation, covering the following topics: Bringing SCP to the SDGs (sustainable development goals) – for government and international cooperation; The business and poverty eradication cases for SCP; Life-Cycle Thinking and Systems Approach for SCP.

–          Round table 2: Mainstreaming SCP in priority sectors, covering the following topics: Sustainable Agriculture and food systems; Green building design and materials for sustainable cities; Urban Environmental Planning and Resource Management approaches, technologies for Sustainable Cities.

–          Roundtable 3: Sustainable Consumption – Lifestyles and Education, covering the following topics: Sustainable Public Procurement; Harmonization of Standards and Eco-labeling; Sustainable Lifestyle and Education: Supporting Sustainable Consumer Behavior.

–          Roundtable 4: SCP progress – for business and policy makers, covering the following topics: Adoption and Integration of Corporate Sustainable Reporting and Standards in relation to SCP; Eco Innovation: sustainability at the core of the business strategy; SCP Indicators.

–          Roundtable 5: Resource Efficient, Cleaner and Safer Production, covering the following topics: Green Industry, from Policy to Practices; Improving Resource and Energy Efficiency through Supply Chain Management: Lessons Learnt, Opportunities, and Challenges; From “Waste-to-Wealth” to “Upcycle Product Standard”; Cases from RECP.

Two SWITCH-Asia projects, including the SUPA project of which VNCPC is a lead partner and GetGreen Vietnam project of which VNCPC is one of the three partners, participated in the Roundtable. Especially, Mr. Le Xuan Thinh, SUPA coordinator, delivered a presentation on “Establishing a Sustainable Pangasius Supply Chain in Vietnam” in one of the roundtable sessions.

Next to the 11th APRSCP, the SWITCH-Asia Network Facility also held a workshop on “Policy Advocacy for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems in Asia”. About 20 people from SWITCH-Asia grant projects (including SUPA and GetGreen), the Network Facility, agriculture experts, UNEP Policy Support Component and other interested stakeholders attended this thematic workshop. This was a chance for in-depth discussion on how to improve the projects’ policy advocacy strategies and for identification of country and sector specific agriculture and food priority issues. The workshop went fruitfully and productively, resulted in combining presentations and input for the SWITCH-Asia sustainable agriculture policy brief.

More information about the 11th APRSCP available at: http://www.aprscp.net/11th-APRSCP/index.html

Admin VNCPC