Wastewater is treated in a factory in the Nam Cầu Kiền Industrial Zone in the Thủy Nguyên District in the northern port city of Hải Phòng. The IZ aims to develop into a zero-carbon circular economic model by 2030. — VNA/VNS Photo Trần Việt

HÀ NỘI — Experts, management officials and business representatives gathered at a conference in Hà Nội yesterday to discuss measures to promote start-ups following the circular economic model to benefit society and businesses in a sustainable manner.

Addressing the event, Phạm Hồng Quất, director of the Agency for Technology Entrepreneurship and Commercialisation Development (NATEC) under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said that science-technology development has brought about great benefits, making life better and more convenient.

However, it also goes along with many challenges such as resource depletion, environmental pollution and climate change, he noted, highlighting the significance of the circular economy as a solution to these problems, in which the life cycle of products is extended and negative environmental impacts are minimised.

Meanwhile, Nguyễn Phương Linh, director of Management and Sustainable Development Institute, said that the Prime Minister approved a national circular economic development project on June 7, 2022, which affirmed that the proactive development of the circular economy is inevitable, in line with the trends and requirements for making breakthroughs in economic recovery and the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) in Việt Nam.

She said the project underlines the importance of promoting the circular economy in the process of economic restructuring and renovating the growth model, enhancing the economy's competitiveness, adaptation and resilience against outside shocks, thus realising the national strategy on green growth in the 2021-2030 period with a vision to 2050, and ensuring security and defence.

At the conference, participants discussed a number of start-up models, while sharing their viewpoints on advantages and challenges for start-ups as well as lessons in business governance and the shaping of sustainable and circular enterprises. — VNS