Binh Duong (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam and ASEAN countries need to adoptgreen manufacturing technologies to make sustainable new products and services,heard a recent international conference in southern Binh Duong province.

Dr Michael Braun, coordinator of the Enhanced Regional EU-ASEAN DialogueInstrument project, told the ‘Cooperating with Europe for Green ManufacturingTechnologies’ conference that it is important to promote technological cooperationbetween the European and Southeast Asian blocs for mutual benefit.

ASEAN countries have emerged as important manufacturing hubs in global supplychains, he said.

“The growing demand for environmentally sound, resource- and energy-efficientproducts and manufacturing has created a hunger for new green manufacturingtechnologies.”

With its rich technology and research landscape, innovative enterprises anddedicated green growth strategies, Europe is a major source of such greentechnologies, he said.

“Green technologies are key to sustainable new products, services andmanufacturing processes, and are essential for realising green growth.”

For ASEAN member states, green technologies will help make the best possibleuse of their natural and energy resources and protect the health and well-beingof workers and consumers.

Hans Farnhammer, head of Cooperation for the European Union Delegation to Indonesia,Brunei, Darussalam and ASEAN, said: “Green production has become the core ofsustainable development.”

Prof TAN, Reginald Beng Hee, of the National University of Singapore, said, “BinhDuong province is set to become the next destination for green technologytransfer.”

Nguyen Viet Long, director of the province Department of Science andTechnology, said comprehensive transport infrastructure and quality humanresources play a major role in attracting foreign investors, especially fromEurope, with green manufacturing technologies.

The Government needs to invest in improving infrastructure and offer incentivesto promote the triple helix model of university–industry–governmentcooperation, he said.

European Green Deal

Joanna Drake, deputy director of the European Commission’s Directorate-Generalfor the Environment, said under the European Green Deal, the EU recognises thatclimate change and environmental degradation are an existential threat toEurope and the world.

To overcome the challenges, the EU needs a new growth strategy that wouldtransform it into a modern, resource-efficient and competitive economy in whichthere are no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050, and economic growth isdecoupled from resource use, she said.

The Deal aims to make the EU’s economy sustainable by turning climate andenvironmental challenges into opportunities, focusing on investments in greentechnologies, sustainable solutions and innovative businesses, she said.

It also lays out a path for a sustainable transition that is socially fair andensures ‘no person or place is left behind’, she said.

The EU therefore supports ASEAN and its member states with initiatives relatedto climate-change resilience and adaptation, environmental protection, includingprotecting bio-diversity, and disaster preparedness and response, she added.

The two-day conference that began on March 22 was held as part of the 2021 EUIndustry Week organised by the provincial People’s Committee and the EuropeanCommission./.