Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Director General of the Viet Nam Chemicals Agency, Ministry of Industry and Trade

Colleagues and experts from Government Agencies, Academia, Non-government Organizations.

Colleagues from Department of Industry and Trade at provinces

International colleagues;

Ladies and gentlemen;

A very good afternoon and xin chào.

Please allow me to welcome you to this important workshop on review and integrating green chemistry principles into the revised Law on Chemicals, which is part of a larger UNDP project promoting the application of more sustainable industrial processes and the reduction of chemical pollution.

Ladies and gentlemen;

Along with the development of the country, the chemical sector has developed rapidly and plays an important role in the socio-economic development of the country. The average growth rate of chemical industry was 12% (1990 – 2010) and is now 10% (2010-2020). The chemical industry and its related supply chains contribute about 11.2% of the national industrial production value and create jobs for about 10% of the entire industry's workforce. Out of 1,818 chemical companies, 49% accounts for fertilizers production, 6% for pesticides production and packaging, 4% basic chemical production and other such as petrochemical, gasoline etc.

Beside the positive contribution of chemical industry to the country’s economy, there have been an increasing levels of chemicals of concern recently measured in  environment and more chemical incidents are occurring nationwide. We have seen: the Rang Dong case in 2019, where Hanoi’s light bulb factory fire leaked 27 kilos of mercury to the environment; the Formosa Environment Disaster in 2016 causing massive fish deaths in the seas of four provinces in central Vietnam; increasing use of toxic chemicals in agriculture; continuous use and release of persistent organic pollutants (POP) and toxic chemicals from industrial sectors.

Ladies and gentlemen;

Under the GEF financial support, UNDP has been supporting Vietnam Chemicals Agency (Vinachemia) to implement a project “Application of Green Chemistry in Viet Nam to Support Green Growth and Reduction in the Use and Release of POPs/Harmful Chemicals” from 2017 to 2021. The overall objective of the Project is to create the enabling environment for the introduction of Green Chemistry in Viet Nam and introduce Green Chemistry applications in productive sectors with the purpose of reducing the use and release of chemicals controlled under Stockholm and Minamata Conventions.  

Through the support from the Green Chemistry Project, an initial review of the law implementation has been undertaken, several ideas have been also recommended for revision, especially on how to integrate green chemistry principles into this important legal document. There are some proposals on green chemistry integration to be included  the revised Law such as: (i) definition of “Green Chemistry” term; (ii) elaboration of 12 green chemistry principles in specific chapters, articles and clauses of the Law; and (ii) incentive scheme for the application of green chemistry in enterprises etc.

At this workshop, we are going to see presentations on review of Chemicals Law implementation carried out by Vietnam Chemical Agency, proposal of integrating Green Chemistry principles into the revised Law presented by a consulting team. We also can have an overview of how other countries adopt green chemistry concept into their policy and legal framework, presented by an UNDP international expert. The workshop today will be a forum for participants, especially colleagues from line ministries, sectors, colleagues from Departments of Industry and Trade, to share your views on the chemical law implementation and provide comments on ways forwards. It would be also great to hear from participants about any other legal documents that could show opportunities for integrating green chemistry, such as cleaner production strategy, sustainable production and consumption action plan etc.

Ladies and gentlemen;

We hope that, after today’s workshop, the Vietnam Chemicals Agency will have good inputs to continue with the Chemical Law revision process and hope the draft version will be soon formulated and submitted to National Assembly for review and approval.

I wish you all safe in this difficult COVID situation, good health, happiness, and success.

Thank you! Xin cảm ơn!