Recently, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), and Suntory Pepsico Vietnam (SPV) officially signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a Green Index to help businesses identify provinces that are facilitating green operations. Conceived by VCCI and supported by USAID and SPV, the Green Index will promote environmental regulatory reforms and improve environmentally-friendly investment at the provincial level. 

During her August trip to Vietnam, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced USAID’s support for developing a Green Index to rally the private sector to climate action.

 “The historic agreements struck at the recently concluded COP26 to accelerate cooperation on climate action underscore the importance of collective action to preserve and protect our environment,” said USAID/Vietnam Mission Director Ann Marie Yastishock at today’s signing ceremony. “This new partnership brings us one step closer to elevating greater environmental awareness and driving greater sustainability to benefit Vietnam’s citizens and economy.”

The Green Index aims to assess and rank local environmental quality as perceived by businesses, and explore firms’ environmental behavior, their willingness to apply green technologies/practices, and their readiness to invest in green operations. Additionally, this trilateral partnership intends to establish the Green Index as a useful tool to inform local policy making and development of an environmentally sensitive business ecosystem. 

The index will be published as part of the current Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) implemented by VCCI with support from USAID. PCI measures transparency, investment, trade and economic growth, and has become an important tool since its inception in 2005 for encouraging reforms at both the national and provincial levels on economic governance.

The Green Index is an effort to incorporate greater environmental sustainability into provincial leadership considerations moving forward. This initiative is being launched just as Vietnam’s shift to deeper environmental awareness is taking root.  The Green Index furthers Vietnam’s path towards sustainable economic development and bolsters Vietnam’s commitments at the recent Climate Change Conference (COP26).

Since 2005, USAID and VCC have been trusted partners, jointly contributing to the development of the private sector and an enabling business climate at the provincial level in Vietnam. Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam’s co-founding of this environmental initiative makes it a pioneer from the private sector.