Vietnam faces challenges in ensuring sustainable development: insiders

Illustrative image. (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – As a rapidly growing economy, Vietnam is facing many difficulties in ensuring energy security, green and sustainable development, insiders have said.

Nguyen Tuan Anh, Deputy Director of the Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), said in line with draft Power Development Planning (PDP) VIII, the country will not develop new coal-fired plants after 2030.

The proportion of coal-fired power in the overall power capacity will fall from 25.7% in 2030 to 9.6% in 2045 through the transfer biomass and other clean energy.

He emphasised that developing the industry toward sustainable energy and ensuring an adequate and stable supply of electricity at a reasonable price is always a challenge for developing countries, including Vietnam.

According to Nguyen Thi Hong, Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), to promote green growth in the 2021 – 2030 period, the country will focus on promoting resources from commercial loans and private investment, along with preferential policies on tax and official development assistance (ODA).

One of the challenges for the implementation of credit for green projects is that Vietnam does not have specific criteria and a list of green projects for different industries as the foundation for credit institutions to determine credit granting for the next period, she was by Cong Thuong (Industry and Trade) newspaper as saying.

Hong noted that investment in green fields, especially renewable energy and green buildings, often requires a long payback period and large investment costs, while loans from credit institutions are usually short-term capital, making it difficult for them to balance capital as prescribed.

The SBV has rolled out solutions to boost green growth and sustainable development, including shifting the credit flow to environment-friendly projects, promoting green consumption and service industries, clean and renewable energy as well as low-carbon production industries. It will enhance the efficiency of credit capital allocation to serve socio-economic development while expanding green financing, she said.

As of late June, the total green outstanding debts reached 474 trillion VND(20.2 billion USD), up 7.08% compared with the same period last year, focusing on renewable and clean energy./.