According to Hong, while SMEs account for 98% out of over 500,000 operational enterprises, not many are interested in sustainable development because they think green projects have higher costs and thus require big investment, which is SMEs’ weak point.

However, with improved living condition and deep integration into the international economy, consumers have increasingly stricter requirements for products, Hong said, adding that implementing green growth projects will help SMEs save resources and shift to creativity.

Meanwhile, Adam Ward, Country Representative of the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) said Vietnam is slow at implementing the National Strategy for Green Growth. He attributed the delay to the lack of knowledge of sustainable growth among Vietnamese firms.

He said the SMEDF is collaborating with the GGGI and relevant bodies to develop a handbook on green credit access for SMEs, which will guide them on conditions and procedures to receive credit support for green development from the fund.

It will also help SMEs in developing their green and sustainable development projects.