U.S. promotes environmentally friendly business ecosystem in Viet Nam

Conceived by VCCI and supported by USAID, the Green Index will promote environmental regulatory reforms and improve environmentally-friendly investment at the provincial level. During her August trip to Viet Nam, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced USAID’s support for developing a Green Index to rally the private sector to climate action.

This new partnership brings us one step closer to elevating greater environmental awareness and driving greater sustainability to benefit Viet Nam’s citizens and economy, said USAID/Viet Nam Mission Director Ann Marie Yastishock at the signing ceremony.

The Green Index aims to assess and rank local environmental quality as perceived by businesses, and explore firms’ environmental behavior, their willingness to apply green technologies/practices, and their readiness to invest in green operations.

The index will be published as part of the current Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) implemented by VCCI with support from USAID. PCI measures transparency, investment, trade and economic growth, and has become an important tool since its inception in 2005 for encouraging reforms at both the national and provincial levels on economic governance.

The Green Index is an effort to incorporate greater environmental sustainability into provincial leadership considerations moving forward. This initiative is being launched just as Viet Nam’s shift to deeper environmental awareness is taking root. 

The Green Index furthers Viet Nam’s path towards sustainable economic development and bolsters Viet Nam’s commitments at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26).

By Thuy Dung