Green transition: Driving force for Viet Nam's new growth model

Speaking at the event, Deputy Minister of Agriculture and Environment Le Cong Thanh said the ministry would continue refining environmental criteria for green projects and projects meeting circular economy standards. The goal, he said, is to create more favorable conditions for businesses that are substantive, accountable, and innovation-driven to access sustainable financing.

Spurring innovation in the green transition

Held under the theme "Green Transition - The Driving Force for Viet Nam's New Growth Model," the 2026 Green Transition Day aimed to spread a spirit of green action, foster innovation, and build momentum for sustainable national development. The event was co-organized with Lao Dong Newspaper.

Deputy Minister Le Cong Thanh noted that the resolution of the Party's 14th National Congress had clearly established the need to build a new growth model grounded in science, technology, innovation, digital transformation, and green transition, while advancing the digital, green, and circular economies and the energy transition. He described this as a strategic orientation reflecting the country's long-term development vision in a rapidly changing global context.

Green transition, the Deputy Minister emphasized, is no longer an optional or aspirational choice. It has become a mandatory condition for development, a prerequisite for businesses seeking deeper integration into global value chains, a foundation for strengthening national competitiveness, and a key new driver needed to achieve double-digit growth and comprehensively improve living standards.

"To achieve a new growth model, we must accelerate the green transition," Le Cong Thanh said. "To develop quickly and sustainably, we must shift from a growth model heavily reliant on natural resource extraction to one grounded in knowledge, technology, innovation, efficient resource use, emissions reduction, and environmental protection."

To that end, the MAE called on government agencies, local authorities, businesses, and citizens to make green transition a central driver of the new growth model. Rather than a fixed destination, the deputy minister framed it as a continuous journey of innovation and creativity, and the most effective way to reconcile economic development with environmental protection. Every sector, every locality, and every enterprise, he said, must map out its own green transition roadmap and take concrete action without delay or hesitation.

Le Cong Thanh said the MAE would also work to promote transparency in green capital flows, green-shift production and consumption practices, and prevent superficial or cosmetic greenwashing. These efforts, he said, are intended to ensure that genuinely responsible, innovative businesses can more readily tap into sustainable financial resources.

On the question of turning green transition into a whole-of-society undertaking, the Deputy Minister laid out a clear division of roles: the state serves as the institutional architect, setting policy direction, establishing criteria and standards, and creating a fair and enabling environment. Businesses are the central force driving new production and business models. Citizens are key agents of change through daily decisions, consuming more efficiently, saving energy, cutting plastic waste, and choosing environmentally friendly products and transport.

The media, he added, plays a role that goes beyond information delivery. Journalists and broadcasters help build social consensus, amplify successful models, champion good ideas, surface real-world challenges, and push for stronger policy responses.

Accelerating the energy transition

Nguyen Thi Lam Giang, Director General of the Department of Innovation, Green Transition, and Industrial Promotion under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, highlighted a recent directive from the Prime Minister, Directive No. 09/CT-TTg, issued March 19, 2026, which sets specific requirements for strengthening energy efficiency, advancing the energy transition, and expanding electric vehicle adoption.

The directive centers on three priority areas. The first is energy conservation and efficiency, framed as a means of reducing waste, lowering costs, and improving the overall performance of the economy, with particular urgency during peak-load periods in hot-weather seasons.

The second is accelerating the energy transition away from fossil fuels, which would reduce emissions and open space for new industrial sectors positioned as engines of growth, including wind power, solar energy, biomass, and green hydrogen.

The third is developing green transportation, pushing the shift from gasoline and diesel vehicles to electric alternatives across the public sector, public transit, and private mobility. This transition also creates opportunities for new industries and service models tied to electric vehicle batteries, energy storage systems, charging infrastructure, electrical equipment, and green transport networks.

"The green transition must be implemented in a synchronized way, from businesses adopting new technologies to boost energy efficiency, to markets offering more green products and services, to the everyday choices each citizen makes about consumption, travel, and daily life," Nguyen Thi Lam Giang said.

At the formal launch ceremony, delegates pressed the "GREEN" button to officially inaugurate Green Transition Day 2026, followed by an arts exchange featuring popular performers carrying positive messages about environmental protection, energy savings, greenhouse gas reduction, and greener consumption habits.

A highlight of this year's event was an electric vehicle exhibition and test-drive experience, along with a "Trade In Gas for Electric" program organized by Lao Dong newspaper in partnership with industry sponsors. Visitors had the opportunity to explore and test-drive the latest electric vehicle models, learn about modern battery technology, and discover Viet Nam's rapidly expanding network of charging infrastructure. The accompanying trade-in program offered incentives, subsidies, and practical guidance to help citizens make the switch from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric alternatives.