Vietnam's agrifood sector to receive $239 million investment

Vietnam's agrifood sector to receive $239 million investment

Golden Gate BCE, a leading distributor of low-carbon Asian food and non-food products, signed an MoU with LPF Fund in Ho Chi Minh City on July 29 to provide about $239 million in financing for Vietnamese businesses pursuing green transition projects and improving their international competitiveness.

The funding is intended for businesses investing in emissions reduction, the circular economy, clean energy, and ESG initiatives. Through a range of financing mechanisms, it aims to accelerate the green transition of domestic enterprises while strengthening their capacity to compete globally.

Golden Gate BCE and LPF Fund signed a letter of agreement on a financing package worth around $239 million for Vietnamese agrifood enterprises

At the signing ceremony, the Vietnamese translation of the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Standards was launched, enabling organisations across the country to transparently report their impacts in line with global best practice.

The translated suite includes GRI Universal Standards, Sector Standards and Topic Standards. It will help companies in Vietnam to identify, manage and disclose their most significant impacts on the economy, environment and people, through easy access to the world’s most widely used sustainability reporting standards.

GRI’s programme in Vietnam is supporting organisations, particularly SMEs, through training, technical guidance and knowledge-sharing. Together with the new Vietnamese translation, this support will help organisations to assess sector-specific impacts, strengthen value chain resilience, and respond to expectations from international markets and providers of sustainable finance.

First launched in 2017, the new standards are translated versions of revised GRI Universal Standards, the new Standards for Biodiversity, Climate Change and Energy, as well as all GRI Sectors Standards.

Esther An, GRI Supervisory Board Member, said that sustainability reporting was about more than disclosure. It builds trust and helps organisations and their stakeholders make better decisions.

“By providing credible and comparable information on their impacts, companies can strengthen resilience, attract investment and compete in an increasingly globalised economy. Making the latest GRI Standards available in Vietnamese is therefore an important step in expanding access to sustainability reporting in this fast-growing market,” An said.

Dr William L. Nolten, chairman and CEO of Golden Gate BCE Group, said that the future competitiveness of the agrifood sector depended on a transparent, traceable and resilient value chain.

“Through the GRI Asia Alliance, we aim to strengthen sustainability practices that support responsible growth and improve access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the sector,” Nolten said.

Nguyen Cong Minh Bao, GRI country manager for Vietnam, said that translating GRI Standards into Vietnamese would make the international reporting framework more accessible to domestic businesses, particularly SMEs.

"In addition to the Vietnamese translation, GRI is rolling out training programmes, technical guidance, and knowledge-sharing initiatives to help businesses build their sustainability reporting capabilities," he said.

Bao noted that the biggest challenge facing SMEs was not a lack of data, but rather a lack of understanding of how to organise and use it effectively.

Based on GRI Vietnam's experience working with businesses, around 80 per cent of the information required for sustainability reporting already exists within companies. However, it is often scattered across different departments, including human resources, finance, production, and procurement.

"What businesses need is a shift in management mindset. They need to consolidate this information into a unified system and use international standards such as the GRI Standards to translate it into a common language that investors, customers, and business partners around the world can understand and compare," he said.

Huynh Quoc Khanh, chairman of the Members' Council and CEO of LPF Fund, said that every stage of a country's development required a common language to connect with the world.

"In the past, that language was product quality. Today, it also encompasses transparency, accountability, and sustainable development. GRI Standards provide a foundation for Vietnamese businesses to speak the common language of ESG with the global investment community, enabling them to integrate more deeply into global value chains and gain access to long-term capital," Khanh said.

VIR