HÀ NỘI — The top 100 sustainable businesses in Việt Nam 2018 were announced at a ceremony held in Hà Nội on Thursday.

They were selected from nearly 500 entries to the contest, jointly conducted by the Việt Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Việt Nam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD).

Accordingly, the most sustainable firms in manufacturing include Heineken Việt Nam, AES-VCM Mông Dương Power Company Limited, Coca-Cola Beverages Việt Nam Limited, Nestle Việt Nam and the Việt Nam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company (Vinamilk).

The top sustainable enterprises in trade and services 2018 includes Bảo Việt Group, Bank for Investment and Development of Việt Nam (BIDV), Bridgestone Tire Sale Việt Nam Limited Liability Company, Southeast Asia Joint Stock Commercial Bank (SeABank) and Herbalife Nutrition.

This year, the Corporate Sustainability Index (CSI) was further aligned with Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards and other international practices. The CSI can be applied by any member of the business community, regardless of their scale or sector, and effectively is a form of sustainability reporting.

According to the organising board, this year’s programme assessed firms on the basis of 131 criteria, down three criteria compared to the previous year, focusing on socio-economic and environmental aspects.

Addressing the event, VCCI’s president Vũ Tiến Lộc said "One of the messages that VCCI and VBCSD always try to send to the business community is to change business thinking, looking at sustainable development with a new lens. First of all, it’s not a distant story for big companies or corporations of the world. It is a story that is happening everywhere, a necessity of development."

Representing the group of foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises, Lee & Man Paper Manufacturing Company Limited is honoured to be one of the manufacturing companies in the paper industry that meets the standards of the organising board. In addition to the use of environmentally-friendly production technology, Lee & Man also focuses on developing local human resources and implementing social programmes to support the surrounding community.

“Lee & Man applies a mechanism of using more than 90 per cent recycled paper resources, pioneering the use of advanced production methods, ensuring environmental protection and using a system of waste processing and supervision. With these efforts, Lee & Man wishes to contribute to the sustainable development of the locality – Hậu Giang Province in particular and the paper industry of Việt Nam in general,” the firm’s general director Patrick Chung told Việt Nam News.

Heineken Việt Nam is also recognised as the most sustainable company in Việt Nam in the manufacturing sector for the second consecutive year, marking the third year the company has been named in top three of the programme since its launch in 2016.

“Being named as the most sustainable manufacturing company in Việt Nam for the second consecutive year is such a wonderful honour for everyone at Heineken Việt Nam. We want to continue to push ourselves and inspire other businesses in Việt Nam to create more sustainable value in Việt Nam,” Matt Wilson, Corporate Affairs Director of Heineken Việt Nam told Việt Nam News.

The Top 100 sustainable firms in Việt Nam programme was first held in 2016 and will be an annual event.

This year, the companies received three different types of honour, including the sustainable business certificate, the sustainable enterprise certificate for excellent manufacturing enterprises and the sustainable business certificate for excellent enterprises in trade and services.

The certificates aim to encourage businesses in Việt Nam to focus more on sustainable development, planning and implementing strong development business strategies. — VNS