Supporting Small and Medium Enterprises to Promote the Development of Environmentally Friendly Business Strategies

implemented effectively, avoiding the imposition or establishment of standards that are not based on scientific evidence.

 Building a national eco-label system:

According to the assessment of the General Department of Standards, Metrology and Quality, Ministry of Science and Technology, currently in Vietnam only 5% of consumer products and services are qualified for eco-labeling. The reason this number is so small is partly because our country does not have a national eco-label, there are no mandatory legal documents or regulations, and there is no precedent for eco-labeling of goods.

Therefore, in the immediate future, the Government needs to quickly develop and complete a common national eco-labeling standard, and issue a roadmap for applying the eco-labeling program so that businesses can promptly prepare for this change.

1.2. Support small and medium enterprises to promote the development of environmentally friendly business strategies

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In the process of global economic integration, Vietnamese enterprises have been gradually catching up with the world trend of environmentally friendly business. However, in the process of building strategies, enterprises encounter many difficulties in issues such as information, finance, human resources, etc. Therefore, the Government needs to have appropriate support for enterprises in promoting the building of environmentally friendly strategies. In particular, the Government needs to have support regulations on:

 Financial support :

The biggest difficulty for most small and medium enterprises in Vietnam is the cost of building an environmentally friendly business strategy. Building an environmentally friendly business strategy is very costly because enterprises need to invest in building technical infrastructure; modern technological lines; researching and developing products, supplementing

adding environmental safety features; costs for the process of applying for environmental certifications... Therefore, the Government should provide financial support to businesses, especially small and medium enterprises, through programs such as: supporting loan interest rates when borrowing from credit institutions; co-financing projects of some businesses that have a major impact on the environment; seeking financial and technological support from international organizations for Vietnamese businesses. For businesses that have been using clean technology to produce environmentally friendly products, the Government needs to have special preferential policies such as tax exemption, import tax reduction, preferential loans, product advertising support, enjoying a more open mechanism in product registration, etc.

 Information support :

Vietnamese enterprises are lacking information, especially information on environmental regulations of export markets. Therefore, the Government needs to provide timely and regular support to enterprises through conferences, seminars, free information channels, information websites, etc. to help enterprises get the most timely information, avoiding the lack of understanding of domestic and international legal regulations. In addition, the Government needs to establish a Council of experts, who must be experts with in-depth knowledge of building environmentally friendly business strategies to advise enterprises on relevant information and appropriate directions for building strategies.

 Support human resource training :

Human resources are the weakest link in Vietnam, not only in enterprises but also in certification inspection units. Our market is still too new to environmentally friendly products, enterprises do not yet clearly understand the issue of environmental friendliness, so implementing and building an environmentally friendly business strategy is impossible. Recently, our education

We have also provided additional training in the field of environmental technology and environmental management of enterprises, but the quantity and quality are still very weak, unable to meet the current needs of enterprises. To overcome this situation, the Government needs to invest in training experts in building and assessing environmental standards, scientists advising on environmental solutions for enterprises, upgrading specialized equipment for environmental assessment, providing non-refundable funding for projects related to training and providing environmental knowledge training for production facilities and enterprises to develop environmentally friendly business strategies.

 Organizing exhibition programs on environmental products and technology :

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Institute for Industrial Policy and Strategy organized the National Exhibition and Conference on Environmentally Friendly Products and Technologies - Vietnam EFProtech 2009 and in 2008, the International Exhibition on Ecological Products 2008 (EPIF 2008) was also held for the first time in Vietnam. This can be said to be an opportunity for Vietnamese enterprises to exchange with each other, and also an opportunity to change enterprises' awareness of environmental issues.

The government and relevant ministries need to create more playgrounds to help businesses learn about environmentally friendly technology, increase competitiveness among businesses, help products reach consumers, thereby creating motivation for businesses to focus on building environmentally friendly business strategies. The program needs to be organized on a large scale, expanding to provinces and cities across the country. Organizing agencies should invite more participation from large foreign businesses, especially in environmentally friendly solutions, so that Vietnamese businesses have the opportunity to learn.

Develop reward and punishment regulations to encourage businesses:

Since 2006, Ho Chi Minh City has organized the “Green Business” award to announce and reward businesses that have built effective environmentally friendly business strategies, emphasizing “green” technology solutions and producing “green” products. In addition to the cash prize, the winning businesses will be granted a Green Business certificate by the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee and have the award logo printed on their product packaging for a period of 3 years. In 2009, Ho Chi Minh City will coordinate with the media to announce a “black” list of businesses that continue to not comply with the Law on Environmental Protection. More strongly, the Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee will coordinate with law enforcement agencies to announce a list of products of businesses that deliberately violate the environment many times, and at the same time call for support from the community in boycotting and not buying products of “black” businesses.

It can be said that this is a very effective solution for praise and punishment that needs to be expanded by the Government to become a national program. In addition, the Government needs to have policies to reward enterprises that meet international environmental standards, meet eco-labeling standards, produce environmentally friendly products, etc., and at the same time severely punish enterprises that repeat environmental violations or enterprises that receive state support but produce products that do not meet standards.

1.3. Raising consumer awareness of environmentally friendly products

The most important factor determining the success or failure of an environmentally friendly business strategy is consumer demand for the product.

Right from the beginning, the eco-friendly business strategy has emphasized the study of current and future consumer needs; if following the world trend to apply eco-friendly strategy in a market that is completely incapable of profiting from green products, then that strategy is completely unfeasible. Therefore, one of the most effective measures to promote the development of eco-friendly strategy is to raise domestic consumer awareness of eco-products.

However, it can be seen that the demand of domestic consumers for ecological products is not high. For the part of consumers who care about the quality and origin of the products, first of all, it is only because of the issue of food hygiene and safety and their own health, but they are not aware of the issue of environmental protection in those products.

In order to gradually raise the awareness of the whole society about environmental issues related to the production and business activities of enterprises, the Government and relevant agencies need to promote the dissemination of national and international environmental regulations widely to the public and gradually apply those regulations to people's daily life. Regularly organize programs to learn about the impact of the environment on social life, especially the impact of production and business activities on the environment.

In addition, regularly organize television and radio programs to introduce and promote environmentally friendly products and “green” businesses; reflect on businesses that pollute the environment and the impact of the environmental quality of the product on the benefits of consumers of that product in particular and on the whole society in general. Through that, guide consumers to use environmentally friendly products.

environment, gradually eliminate products whose consumption or production pollutes the environment.

This propaganda work should first be carried out through educational and training organizations, and subjects on the environment and environmental quality of products can be included in the curriculum from primary school to college and university. For all classes of people, propaganda should be carried out through mass organizations such as women's associations, residential groups, trade unions, etc.

1.4. Raising awareness and consciousness about the environment of businesses and managers

Raising awareness of international and national environmental issues and their impacts on business operations is of utmost importance to policy makers and businesses as the environment becomes a global issue. Integrating the environment into business strategies improves the quality of the domestic environment on the one hand, and the competitiveness of goods and services in both domestic and international markets on the other. Therefore, it is necessary to raise awareness among businesses and managers about the risks of environmental pollution and the threat of environmental issues to business growth.

The Government needs to expand the training and propaganda campaign on food safety, disseminate international regulations and standards to managers and businesses as well as environmental regulations of the Government, WTO, ASEAN, multilateral environmental agreements related to trade, etc. to make businesses see the importance of production and business associated with environmental factors.

The government needs to open short-term training courses for businesses and managers on environmental protection, the relationship between environmental protection and sustainable development, focusing on providing orientation for businesses.

Business strategy to build environmentally friendly business.

1.5. Strictly handle cases of production and business causing environmental pollution.

Currently, the level of penalties for businesses violating the environment is not enough to deter businesses. The government and relevant agencies need to closely monitor and inspect the environmental violations of businesses, and take stronger measures in punishing environmental violations to raise business awareness. It is possible to increase the level of administrative penalties and consider solutions such as suspending production, confiscating land granted to businesses, stopping resource exploitation, etc., or even closing down for serious violations. When the form of penalty greatly affects the interests of businesses, businesses will compare the opportunity cost of environmental violations with environmental protection, thereby paying more attention to environmental goals in production and business activities.

In addition, the State can use the bank loans of enterprises to create pressure. Bank loans always flow into enterprises regardless of whether they are state-owned, joint-stock or private enterprises. The State should, through the banking system, combine to close/open the capital valve when enterprises do not comply with environmental protection regulations.

To do this, the Government needs to direct ministries and branches, especially the banking system, to study adding an "environmental re-evaluation" item to the credit process before banks make lending decisions, creating a flexible mechanism for businesses that are conscious of environmental protection and strict conditions for businesses that violate the environment.

2. Micro solution group

2.1. Raising awareness and consciousness of business members about environmental issues in the business strategy of the enterprise

The success of an environmentally friendly business strategy partly comes from the awareness of each member of the enterprise. Not only those who directly make decisions and directly implement the strategy must be conscious of protecting the environment, but also the workers working in the factories must be conscious. The awareness and actions of each individual will also contribute to enhancing the image of a green enterprise, not only pursuing an environmentally friendly strategy for profit but also for social responsibility. Once the enterprise's policies and guidelines are thoroughly understood by its members, all production cycles and action steps will operate smoothly, ensuring environmental regulations and standards.

Business leaders need to raise awareness among all staff members of the business, helping them thoroughly understand the guiding ideology, the benefits of building an environmentally friendly strategy, applying international standards, etc.

To do this, the enterprise needs to disseminate its plans and goals to all employees in the company, open environmental knowledge training courses for all employees in the company, lectures introducing ISO 14001, HACCP, eco-labels; how to apply clean technology and techniques in production; disseminate production plans and introduce environmentally friendly products; and regularly mobilize members of the enterprise to participate in general cleaning programs around the production area or local clean and green movements.

2.2. Training human resources with environmental expertise

To build an environmentally friendly business strategy, businesses need to have a plan to train human resources with professional qualifications in environmental protection.

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