VietNamNet Bridge – Viet Nam will face challenges in implementing policies and laws on environmental protection, especially in industries seeing strong growth, said Nick Thorpe from the People and Nature Reconciliation (PanNature) centre.

Illustrative image -- File photo

Speaking at a seminar themed “Free trade: Investment movement and environmental issues in Viet Nam” held by PanNature in Ha Noi last Friday, Thorpe said that Viet Nam would meet difficulties in abiding by environmental standards regulated in the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) agreement, and local land compensation laws.

There were loopholes in Viet Nam’s policies on environmental management for businesses, he stressed.

Le Dang Doanh, former director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, said by joining free trade agreements (FTAs), Viet Nam had to uphold regulations on ozone-depleting substances, pollution at sea, transparent co-operation in protecting the environment, and cutting fishing activities that harm fisheries resources.

Doanh suggested building a relevant regulation system, adding that it was necessary to enhance supervision of environmental protection for foreign-invested enterprises.

FDI businesses’ operation ought to obey regulations on management of waste water, dust and noise from the first phases of design and technology selection to construction and operation phases, he noted.

According to Do Thanh Bai from the Chemical Society of Viet Nam, industries that would most benefit from the TPP such as textiles, footwear and electronics were the most harmful sectors to the environment because they use many toxic chemicals.

Bai underlined the need to carefully select investors that use environmentally friendly technologies.

Viet Nam has joined and negotiated 15 FTAs so far, with the TPP officially signed in October last year after five years of negotiation.

VNS