Many start-ups integrate sustainable development goals into their operations

Young startups in Đà Lạt join hands to open a store to introduce local OCOP products. — Photo thuonghieutruyenthong.vn

HÀ NỘI — 85 per cent of Vietnamese businesses under a survey reported they have fully or partially integrated the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into their organisation’s operations.

In particular, the number of businesses in the fields of technology, communications and marketing, e-commerce or AI, blockchain, accounts for nearly 100 per cent.

Việt Nam is increasingly demonstrating its determination to associate national development with the SDGs through integrating these goals into national development activities and policies.

In that context, startups and small and medium-sized enterprises are considered indispensable.

The Project Office “Support Innovative Startup Ecosystem in Việt Nam Until 2025”, of the Ministry of Science and Technology, in co-ordination with Start-up Việt Nam Foundation, Innovation Connection Platform BambuUP, MSD Việt Nam and MSD United Way Việt Nam, have just conducted a survey on innovation and entrepreneurship towards sustainable development goals and lessons learned from practice for Việt Nam.

The survey was conducted on 153 businesses. The results show that the three most prominent goals chosen by businesses include SDG8: job creation and sustainable economic growth (57 per cent); SDG12: sustainable consumption and production (39.66 per cent) and SDG4: quality education (31.03 per cent).

In addition, 100 per cent of businesses expressed a desire to contribute to sustainable corporate values, 63.79 per cent aimed to promote initiatives and promote innovation, while half of these businesses prioritised responding to customer and market needs.

The above data shows the current situation of businesses that are gradually tending to be more proactive in recognising and being more responsible for environmental and social issues.

More than 82.76 per cent of businesses choose to integrate SDGs into their business activities by taking concrete actions to incorporate sustainability into their core strategies and adjust their products and services according to principles that support sustainable development.

This underlines their true dedication in contributing to a more sustainable future, demonstrating a comprehensive and deep commitment to responsible business practices and sustainable development.

However, the implementation of these goals still faces certain difficulties.

More than 74.14 per cent of businesses reflected that they are experiencing financial problems, 36.21 per cent of businesses have human resource problems and 37.93 per cent of entities find it difficult to balance SDGs with profit goals.

To overcome the above problems, the survey also recommends that Việt Nam continue to learn from international experiences like other countries in the OECD by promoting the use of industrial policy to encourage entrepreneurs to commit to the SDGs and provide more accessible information on the regulatory framework for businesses.

Additional recommendations include introducing a mandatory compliance regime, requiring businesses to report information on the impact of business activities on the environment and society.

At the same time, the effort should implement supporting policies, loans or equity investments to generally support businesses’ sustainable initiatives and help start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises have a clear direction in implementation of the SDGs. VNS