Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Vietnam in particular and in the Asia-Pacific region in general need to develop sustainable development strategies by learning from international experiences.
This insight was shared by Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Hue, Project Director of KLINOVA, in her speech at the annual international conference of the Asia-Pacific Management Accounting Association (APMAA 2024), held in late October in Hanoi. With the theme "Management Accounting: A Decision-Support Tool for Sustainable Development and Digitalization of Business Processes," the conference focused on sharing expertise in management accounting while aiming to create new concepts in sustainable governance and development, helping businesses in the ASEAN region and globally adapt to advanced and modern technology-driven management trends.
Ms. Nguyen Thi Minh Hue shared survey results on Vietnamese enterprises' practices regarding the ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) framework. She noted that while sustainability reports from Russia show that companies there have made significant progress in implementing this model, in Vietnam, businesses, especially SMEs, have not widely adopted ESG due to a lack of resources and an incomplete legal framework.
According to Ms. Hue, Vietnam currently only requires public companies and listed companies to disclose environmental and social information, as stipulated in Circular No. 96/2020/TT-BTC by the Ministry of Finance. This poses additional challenges for smaller businesses, as they lack both the resources and incentives to implement ESG standards. Ms. Hue also emphasized the importance of building a supportive framework and appropriate policies to encourage SMEs in Vietnam to approach ESG, thereby enhancing competitiveness and sustainable development. ESG is not just a trend but also a key to helping domestic businesses strengthen their position in the international market.
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