For these results to be measurable and verifiable, technology and data must be applied to specific production and governance challenges, while support policies must also be based on businesses' actual demands.
The gap between commitments and effectiveness
Viet Nam aims for rapid, sustainable growth and to become a developed, high-income country by 2045. As the growth model remains heavily reliant on expanding resources, improving the efficiency of capital, labour, and resource use has become an urgent requirement.
The National Green Growth Strategy sets a target of reducing greenhouse gas emission intensity per unit of GDP by at least 15% by 2030 compared with 2014, with a view to achieving a reduction of at least 30% by 2050. To achieve these targets, data on emissions and energy efficiency must be monitored from the scale of the economy down to individual production activities.
Le Xuan Dinh, Deputy Minister of Science and Technology, said that room for expanding inputs was becoming increasingly limited, meaning productivity must become the main driver of long-term growth. A productivity breakthrough means generating more value from the same resources. New technology, data, and governance must go hand in hand with standards, measurement, and quality so that products can be accepted by the market. Pressure for green transformation has spread to businesses in international supply chains. Investors and customers need evidence of emissions, product origins, and resource-use efficiency rather than simply commitments.
The environmental, social, and governance (ESG) framework, which is used to assess businesses' sustainable development performance, should not be seen merely as a compliance cost. When integrated with the circular economy and management practices, ESG can boost productivity and attract green investment.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Quan, Director of the Institute for Circular Economy Development Research (Viet Nam National University, Ho Chi Minh City), cited figures from PwC Viet Nam, saying that 82% of businesses had collected ESG data, however, only about one in ten of them used business analytics tools to support decision-making.
According to Quan, the circular economy incorporates ESG principles into material flow management and extends product lifecycles, with each stage requiring indicators to determine efficiency and the level of waste. Business leaders must be involved in decisions on objectives, resources, and how data is used, while indicators on materials, energy, and waste need to be monitored throughout each production cycle.
The data gap also affects access to green capital. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Thi Tuyet, Rector of the School of Staff Training and Development under the Banking Academy of Viet Nam, said that many small businesses and start-ups had sustainable business models but lacked data demonstrating their environmental effectiveness, making it difficult to convince investors and credit institutions. Businesses need to determine which category their projects fall into under the green classification framework and provide reliable data, as commitments are unlikely to serve as a basis for assessment without verifiable evidence.
Policies must address specific business challenges
Vn-WoodID is an example of applying technology to a specific management challenge. Launched in September 2025, the tool uses artificial intelligence (AI) to identify wood species on mobile devices based on a database of nearly 3,000 samples from 260 species. The identification results support customs and forest rangers in inspecting timber originating from high-risk areas, while helping import and processing businesses avoid incorrectly declaring species names.
Another application has been developed by BUYO Technology Solutions Company in the materials sector: using brewer's spent grain and sugarcane bagasse as raw materials for producing bioplastics. This makes use of by-products and reduces dependence on petroleum-based raw materials. However, bringing new materials to market still depends on technical standards, green product certification, and suitable sources of capital. Indicators of resource savings and emissions reductions during production and use process must also be quantified to demonstrate actual effectiveness.
For small and medium-sized enterprises, investment in technology must be linked to their capacity to select, absorb, and master solutions. Support policies should focus on addressing businesses' actual problems rather than using the number of software systems deployed or participating organisations as measures of success. Effectiveness is reflected in reductions in costs, time, and errors, together with improvements in product quality and market accessibility.
Businesses should start with stages which can create value the most clearly, conduct trials at an appropriate scale, measure the results, and then expand. Many experts believe that technology needs to go hand in hand with reliable data, standardised processes, and skilled operators. Properly identified and connected data helps control quality, trace origins, and govern supply chains. This is the foundation for AI to deliver effective results.
Speaking at the 2026 National Productivity and Quality Forum held in mid-August, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Quoc Dung emphasised that one of the tasks is to complete a set of productivity measurement indicators at the economy-wide, sectoral, local, and business levels, while also building a national productivity database and publishing an annual Viet Nam Productivity Report. The plan to enhance productivity in the new phase also needs to incorporate missing elements, such as AI- and data-driven productivity, green productivity, public sector productivity, and digital standards and measurement. Alongside the set of indicators, the national quality infrastructure needs to be modernised, particularly regarding measurement, testing, and certification capacity, so as to help businesses verify the results of improvements and meet market requirements.
According to the Viet Nam Institute of Science and Technology Strategy under the Ministry of Science and Technology, science, technology, and innovation policies must clearly define expected outputs and the anticipated economic, social, and environmental value they will generate. Green public procurement and tax incentives can encourage investment in clean, energy-efficient technologies. For new products and models, controlled pilot mechanisms can help verify effectiveness and identify risks before wider adoption.
For technology development, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dang Hoai Bac, Head of the Posts and Telecommunications Institute of Technology, proposed completing standards and technical regulations for green technologies, while strengthening links between universities, research institutes, and businesses so that research results can be tested and transferred into production. The participation of businesses from the stage of defining the problem will help shorten the gap between the laboratory and the market.
Therefore, green transformation must be measured by savings in energy, raw materials, and time, as well as in the additional value created. These results should also serve as a basis for evaluating support policies. Each task needs to be linked to a specific implementing body, a completion deadline, and a responsible party.
