Archive for category: News From Projects

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 6^th to 8^th 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 5^th 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.

The meeting between importer-visitors and the Godaco company

Visiting 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.

Exhibition booth of SUPA project in Vietfish 2014

Mr 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.

Speakers at the Forum

Representatives 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

In light of the current global framework, the 11^th 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 19^th – 20^th May 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand, the 11^th 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 1^st 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 2^nd 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.

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 11^th 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 11^th APRSCP available at: http://www.aprscp.net/11th-APRSCP/index.html

Admin VNCPC

A sustainable living space at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology was opened on April 29, aiming to promote sustainable consumption practices in Vietnam.

Sustainable Living Space at Ta Quang Buu Library – Hanoi University of Science and Technology

Tran Van Nhan, Director of the Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre (VNCPC), said that the space is showcasing samples of 2,000 sustainable products that have been developed by Vietnamese and Dutch experts in cooperation with 500 businesses from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.

Dr Tran Van Nhan, Director of VNCPC 

Businesses that want to expand their network and boost partnerships in the field can send their products to the space for display, he added.

The space will also offer a platform for people to practice sustainableconsumption under the GetGreen Vietnam project.

Doctor Marcel Crul from the Dutch Delft University of Technology (picture) said that the space will open up opportunities for experts and business people to share ideas, harbouring initiatives on sustainability and innovation.-VNA.

Source: talkvietnam.com