JICA to Help Vietnam to Shift to Circular Economy

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in cooperation with the Institute of Policy and Strategy in Natural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE) under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment of Viet Nam (MONRE) organized a workshop on “Japan's experience and policy suggestions for Vietnam in developing a roadmap to implement circular economy” in Hanoi on July 6th. The workshop is to share the final outcomes of JICA’s “Survey on Circular Economy (CE) in Vietnam” which started in January 2022.

Nearly 80 delegates from state agencies, research institutes and companies attended the seminar and participated actively in the discussion on the draft framework of the National Action Plan on CE for Vietnam, which was regulated in the revised Law on Environmental Protection (LEP) adopted in 2020, aiming at shifting Vietnam’s economy from linear to circular to establish a sustainable society.

At the workshop, the study team led by Japanese experts presented their study findings along with recommendations for MONRE/ISPONRE to develop the National Action Plan on CE and the Government of Vietnam to decide on the roadmap for implementing CE in Vietnam.

Mr. Adachi Ichiro, JICA’s Environmental Management Advisor explained the history of CE policy development and the traditional spirit of “Mottainai” which embraced the concept of CE. Based on the experiences of Japan in developing the CE policy framework which centers on the concept of a Sound Material-Cycle Society in 1999 and the CE vision 2020,

Mr. Adachi suggested that a participatory process to involve all stakeholders including the private sector is necessary for the selection of priority sectors to be included in the action plan.

JICA had been continuously involving in waste management through activities such as promotion of 3R (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle) and source separation in Vietnam. “It is now the high time to elevate our cooperation with MONRE to establish a robust legal foundation and policy directions to enable CE models in Vietnam. This survey aims not only to support

ISPONRE to develop a framework for the National Action Plan on CE but also to provide a bird-eye view of the legislative system and ongoing projects on CE in Vietnam. In that respect, the survey helps identifying gaps for our future technological cooperation projects with MONRE”, stated Mr. Murooka Naomichi, Senior Representative of JICA Vietnam Office.

Dr. Mai The Toan, Vice President of ISPONRE, thanked JICA for valuable support and affirmed that the results of JICA’s survey would be very useful for their upcoming formulation of the National Action Plan on CE. He expressed hope that JICA would continue to support MONRE to formulate a technical cooperation project on CE focusing on sustainable waste management.

The CE is defined as a systematic solution that can tackle global crises such as climate change, plastic waste, and environmental pollution. Moreover, under the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, CE would be a powerful instrument for the economy and society to realize a green recovery. To develop a rigorous policy framework for transforming the current linear economy to CE after the new LEP came into effect in January 2022, the Government of Vietnam issued Decree No.08, which promulgates specific regulations on the implementation of CE and formulation of the National Action Plan on CE.