Under the Program for the Development of Vietnam’s Environmental Industry 2025–2030, the Government sets an overarching objective: by 2030, the environmental industry should be built and positioned as an independent economic sector.

Amid pressing global challenges—climate change, resource depletion, and ecological degradation—Vietnam assigns the environmental industry a pivotal role, not only as a tool for environmental protection but also as a driver of economic restructuring towards green growth.

Recently, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 1894/QĐ-TTg on the Environmental Industry Development Program for 2025–2030. For the first time, the environmental industry has been given a dedicated and significant legal framework. The program sets an ambitious goal: to transform the environmental industry into an independent economic sector that contributes meaningfully to the national economic structure while ensuring technological self-reliance.

Uneven Technological Self-Reliance

At the roundtable titled “Developing the Environmental Industry as an Independent Economic Sector”, experts noted that Vietnam’s environmental industry emerged in the early 2000s. By nature, it is an integrated, multidisciplinary field that converges technologies from machinery manufacturing, chemicals, water treatment, and thermal engineering, providing technology, equipment, and products for environmental protection.

However, many argue that domestic firms currently possess capacity mainly in basic and mid-tier equipment manufacturing. Most are small and medium-sized enterprises with limited capital and restricted access to finance—insufficient for investing in high-tech environmental systems, especially compared with foreign joint ventures and investors who hold stronger financial and managerial advantages.

In reality, the domestic environmental industry remains in a stage of “self-exploration and experimentation.”
According to Dr. Trần Đức Lượng, Chairman of the Vietnam Environmental Industry Association, the industry is heavily shaped by market forces, making its development extremely challenging.

“The environmental industry is unlike any other sector. It integrates technologies from machinery manufacturing, chemical engineering, water treatment, and thermal engineering. As a composite industry, it serves a niche market—highly necessary, yet not large in scale,” Dr. Lượng emphasized.

High-tech environmental-protection technologies remain dominated by foreign investors and foreign equipment suppliers. Vietnamese scientists and manufacturers are still “tinkering”—experimenting and meeting only a certain share of market demand.

Furthermore, domestic environmental-industry firms mostly produce basic and mid-level equipment and continue to face considerable financial constraints.

Nguyễn Đức Quyền, Chairman of Bach Khoa Hanoi Energy & Environment JSC, noted that Vietnam has mastered nearly 100% of small-scale, simple waste-treatment systems. However, for large-scale projects in key industrial sectors—cement, construction materials, thermal power—domestic firms have almost no opportunity to participate due to capital shortages and dependence on foreign technologies.

Mastering environmental technologies requires multi-disciplinary capabilities. To decode technologies, firms must fully understand the objects, operating principles, input pollution parameters, and have highly qualified personnel able to simultaneously address chemical, physical, simulation, and materials-related challenges. Collecting and analyzing environmental samples alone is time-consuming, delaying research and application.

Although environmental industry issues have been discussed for years, there is still no specialized legal document governing the sector. Environmental-industry content is currently scattered across the Law on Investment, Law on Environmental Protection, and Law on Education and Training. The current development program functions only as a “framework for action,” not a legally binding regulatory instrument. As a result, the sector lacks dedicated legal mechanisms and strong governmental incentives.

Improving Institutional Foundations and Designing Specialised Policies

To develop the environmental industry as an independent economic sector in line with Decision 1894/QĐ-TTg, experts emphasize the need to directly address current institutional and structural bottlenecks.

First, Vietnam must完善 strengthen specialized institutional and policy frameworks. This is viewed as the central solution.

Phạm Sinh Thành, Acting Head of the Industry and Trade Environment Division (Department of Industrial Safety and Environment, MOIT), stressed:

“The top priority is to develop a Decree on Environmental-Industry Development before 2030. At the same time, the environmental-industry manufacturing sector must be formally incorporated into the Law, ensuring long-term legal certainty for producers.”

Second, establish mandatory national technical regulations and standards for emissions, wastewater, and waste-incineration systems. Binding requirements will compel enterprises to invest in environmental compliance rather than avoid it.

Third, develop distinctive mechanisms tailored for environmental-industry manufacturers and their products.
Dr. Lượng suggests the State should provide initial support through government procurement or direct contracting to create a critical “push” and stimulate domestic enterprise participation.

Fourth, adopt targeted policies for human-resources development. The workforce must be capable of handling the production of sophisticated environmental technologies and equipment.

Fifth, implement policies to promote market development. Without a market, environmental-industry products cannot be sold, making it difficult for firms to grow.

Trade-promotion agencies play a crucial role in creating market opportunities. However, the connection between environmental-industry firms and trade-promotion bodies remains weak.

“The Environmental Industry Association will play a key role in linking enterprises with trade-promotion agencies to facilitate market expansion and exports,” said Dr. Lượng.

Additionally, experts call for concrete financial policies—including special credit mechanisms and the creation of dedicated “venture-loan funds” to support pioneering technological research and high-risk innovation projects.

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