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

SUPA featured at Europe’s largest seafood trade fair

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The annual European Seafood Exposition and Seafood Processing Europe in Brussels is the world’s largest seafood trade fair. Over 100,000 trade visitors including buyers, suppliers, media and other seafood-industry professionals from over 100 countries attended the 2014 fair to meet face to face and do business.

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The SWITCH-Asia project “Establishing a Sustainable Pangasius Supply Chain in Vietnam” (SUPA) of which VNCPC is a lead partner and other partners as VASEP, WWF-Vietnam, WWF Austria, participated in the Exhibition and was introduced to international organizations, importers and retailers.

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The SUPA project also sponsored for five Vietnamese enterprises to attend the “European Seafood Exposition and Seafood Processing Europe” for market connection. On the opening day, the Vietnam Seafood Exhibition booth saw the presence of the Vietnamese Ambassador to Belgium and Luxembourg, H.E. Pham Sanh Chau and representatives of the Directorate of Fisheries, representatives of Vietnam Television in Europe together with international organizations, importers, media and manufacturers.

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Delivering the opening presentation, Mr Nguyen Viet Manh, Director of Scientific & Technological and International Cooperation Department from the Directorate of Fisheries (Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development), emphasized the importance of fisheries industry to the Vietnamese economic sector structure and committed to the international community toward a sustainable development orientation for Vietnamese seafood, particularly pangasius.

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After the press briefing/conference, Ambassador Pham Sanh Chau visited the Vietnam Seafood Exhibition booth and was introduced about the SUPA project and the initial achievement in building a sustainable supply chain for its pangasius in the period 2013-2017. The Ambassador acclaimed the cooperative endeavor among the project partners and expected further cooperation among Vietnam and European agencies in order to promote Vietnamese seafood as well as enterprises towards a sustainable and sound environmental production.

Admin VNCPC

Sustainable living space nurtures innovative ideas

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Source: talkvietnam.com

Impression from The Hybrid Marketplace and Learning Platform “Incubation for Social Investment Readiness”

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On the 13th March, Green Credit Trust Fund (GCTF) participated the Hybrid Marketplace and Learning Platform event themed “Incubation for Social Investment Readiness” which was held by Spark, Adelphi and HATCH! Program in Hanoi.

Nearly 80 participants coming from 30 social enterprises (SEs) who is doing inclusive business, startup individuals have met and discussed with participated capacity development services providers and incubators on matching their needs with services offered on the development, scaling or startup process. “This is the first time I join a marketplace. The providers are all helpful, I have gained so much useful information and opportunities. We got a cooperation offer.” – an entrepreneur shared.

At the marketplace, many enterprises have found potential service providers who can give answer to their financial, strategic or legal concerns. This was also the great chance for service providers to promote their services to a wider range of customers, especially SEs. The discussion offered space for service providers to share their thoughts and observations of the market and how to create services for SEs and to make their services more transparent. “People come and discuss with us seriously. I can find the huge demand for incubation services from startup individuals and organizations.” – Le Viet Dat, HATCH! Program Manager said.

Participating in the marketplace, service providers like OCD, NHQuang & Associates who are currently targeting big enterprises, found ideas on how their services can be of value to SEs. From the experimenting marketplace model, the participants made suggestions to develop capacity development market, emphasizing connecting role of organizations like Spark.
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         Green Credit Trust Fund attended as the service providers of financial supports on SMEs technology innovation projects

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                      Connection activities between service providers and users at the Marketplace

In the afternoon, the Learning Platform “Incubation for Social Investment Readiness” which originally targeted service providers and business incubators has extended to welcome SEs after acknowledging great inquiry from that side.

Representative from Oxfam Novib has talked about conditions needed to receive investment from their social investment program and highlighted works to be done by SEs to facilitate investment.

Experiences from Adelphi’s capacity development program revealed that services quality evaluation and cooperation on meeting customers’ needs are keys to develop local service providers.

Representative from Uberis Capital, Mr. Cyrille Antignac also emphasized the role of business incubators as one of the vital factors influencing social investors’ decisions on entering certain market.

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Group discussion

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                     Mr. Mikael P. Henzler, Adelphi Managing Director presented at the Learning Platform

The discussion session has provided for service providers an insight in the development and future paths of this sector in Vietnam, as well as highlighted special features of service users being SEs instead of ordinary enterprises, advantages and challenges when doing business with them to propose appropriate action plan.

Mrs. Vu Thi Quynh Anh, Spark Executive Director shared: “This event is a real bridge bringing SEs and capacity development service providers closer and a platform where SEs in Vietnam learn from the experiences of investing funds and incubators to improve their investment readiness capacity. With the hope of making this event contribute positively to the development and flourish of SE community in Vietnam as well as incubation service providers for SEs, Spark will continue working with other organizations and initiatives to organize more marketplace and learning platform, conduct trainings and strive to develop this sector.”

Source Spark.com.vn

Some Switch-Asia project impact sheets

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The SWITCH-Asia programme is the single largest programme to support sustainable consumption and production in developing countries. The EU aims to see the benefits of this investment. Many SWITCH-Asia projects in cooperation with the Network Facility have documented their achievement in so-called impact sheets. If you want to know more about the impact a project is making please select a impact sheet below or visit the project pages via clicking on a country on the map on the right hand side.

More detailed information can be found at http://www.switch-asia.eu/switch-projects/project-impact.html

For small scale butchery

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In this case, the cold and vacuum packaging method would be very effective and could extend the meat shelf life to months not just 8 hours. Generally, USDA stated that the storage life of vacuum-packed beef is at least 10-12 weeks and that of lamb is 8-10 weeks or greater depending on the primal cut, processing conditions, packaging materials and maintenance of a low storage temperature. With storage temperatures below 0°C and use of packaging film with very low oxygen transmission rate, commercial storage life of beef is now frequently considerably in excess of 12 weeks.


In the next several months, we are going to introduce the affordable and reliable option to pack and store the meat. That would maintain and prolong the shelf life of the product. Hence, it would bring more profit to the company!
Tran Duy Long