VINACHEM

A UNEP-funded project to promote energy efficiency in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has attracted an increasing number of interested local businesses after only one year of being put into action.

The UN Environment Programme’s (UNEP) regional coordinator, Stefanos Fotiou, said at a workshop in Hanoi on June 4 that the project aims to bring about a wide range of benefits to Vietnam, such as reduced manufacturing costs, lower pollution levels and improved health and safety record.

The project has focused on Vietnam and Ethiopia as pilot countries from June 1, 2009-June 30, 2010.

In Vietnam , the project has helped the country to introduce better policies and be more able to ensure environmental protection and the rational use of natural resources to reduce poverty, stimulate economic growth and improve the quality of life for Vietnamese citizens.

In practice, the project has provided training courses for the employees of a number of enterprises and has helped several of them to use their resources more efficiently by applying recycling water and paper.

At the workshop, many industrial executives showed a lot of interest in the project and called for regular updates on access to financial and technical assistance in environmental protection for businesses, such as environmental protection funds and energy saving and clean production techniques.

They also asked the relevant ministries and agencies to provide more access to information on preferential policies that encourage enterprises to promote energy efficiency, especially in cleaner production methods./.

(Source: http://en.vietnamplus.vn)