Vietnam Environmental Technologies Export Market Plan

One example is air-quality monitoring. There is no
consistent database available on air pollution levels on a
national, regional, or local level. The Asian Development
Bank, United Nations Development Program (UNDP),
the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation
(NORAD), and DANIDA are funding projects in Ho Chi
Minh City to establish accurate measuring systems and
monitoring equipment. The U.S.-Asia Environmental
Partnership is also providing assistance to this project.
Contract awards include a technical assistance and
training component to build the capacity of local staff.
Investment projects need to complete an environmental
impact assessment (EIA) before they are licensed by the
Ministry of Planning and Investment. For most
companies, completing the assessment is straightforward
and does not require the use of international consultants.
As a result, local Vietnamese companies dominate the
market for EIAs. Local companies also perform audits
and monitoring of facilities to determine whether waste
output is within standards set by the Law on the
Environment. Only major polluting industries, such as
the oil, gas, steel, and cement industries, have required
services of international consulting companies to
complete the EIAs. In general, the market for environmental
services is moving away from providing EIAs to
providing clean production consulting or waste-auditing
services. According to directors at the Center for
Environmental Technology (ECO) in Ho Chi Minh City,
one of the country’s largest environmental services
companies, the center has shifted away from providing
EIAs to providing “clean production” studies for local
companies. ECO also advises companies on wastetreatment
solutions.
As a state-owned company, ECO uses government
networking as an effective marketing tool. The government
occasionally sponsors training sessions and
seminars on waste reduction. Directors at ECO speak at
these events, providing a valuable opportunity to meet
potential clients. ECO is well known among local
DOSTEs, so when polluting companies ask DOSTE for
advice on waste reduction or other environmental
services, DOSTE refers them to the center.
In the past year and a half, ISO 14000 has been
introduced to Vietnam, though only a handful of
companies have been certified. Several American
companies, such as Ford, Nike, and Indochina Building
Supplies, have been ISO 14000 certified. ISO 14000
certification is in its infancy in Vietnam. While it is being
promoted to a limited degree, the market for such
certifications will be negligible for the near future. The
government has not provided any specific incentives to
companies that meet ISO 14000 standards.
One of the larger certification companies in Vietnam,
Société Générale de Surveillance (SGS), has looked at
the market for environmental services but has not made
it one of its core businesses in Vietnam. Its environmentrelated
business in Vietnam has been centered on the
forestry industry. Furniture buyers in the European Union,
for example, restrict imports of furniture that have used
illegally logged timber for raw materials. SGS Vietnam
monitors about 50 furniture factories in Vietnam to
determine their source of origin for hardwood timber.
Vietnam Export Market Plan
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