Bridge - Sustainable development and green growth are key issues in economic growth models in the world, including East Asia.

The 2010 World Economic Forum on East Asia on June 7 continued discussing how Asia can promote green technology. The issue drew the participation of representatives from the Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment of Vietnam and the Republic of Korea (RoK) and the leaders of big businesses, such as Metro, Dupont and GE.

Asia is considered a key point for the world’s economic growth with the strong and rapid growth in the region. However, it is very vulnerable to climate change and polluted environment. Therefore, sustainable environmental campaign growth should be applied in the region. Some Asian countries have begun changing their growth models towards green growth, gas reduction and saving energy, such as the RoK and Japan. Others have committed to cutting gas exhaustion and transferring green technology over time.

The RoK’s Deputy Minister of Environment said despite economic difficulties, the country has invested US$30 billion into green strategy and considered it a stimulus package for environmentally friendly projects. In the results, in 2009 the RoK achieved positive green growth and is expected to obtain a further growth of 5 percent in 2009. It also aims to cut CO2­ exhaustion by 30 percent in 2020.

Vietnam is of the five countries seriously affected by climate change, so green growth has become a hot issue. In 2008, the Government devised several programmes to cope with global climate change. With international support, Vietnam established a fund for coping with climate change at a cost of US$200 million.

At the session, a Vietnamese representative from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment said the Government set up a Steering Board for Coping with Climate Change, presided over by Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. The Ministry has asked other relevant ministries and localities to develop their own plans to deal with the issue. It has also checked projects for natural disaster prevention, such as building dykes, and encouraged forest plantation.

Big businesses in Asia, including Vietnamese enterprises, have committed to cutting gas exhaustion and saving energy in production as well as creating environmentally friendly products. The US GE group invests US$5 billion each year in researching and manufacturing energy saving products. Businesses hope that their governments will create the best conditions for them to apply green technology in production.