At the workshop "Energy savings associated with green economy in the lighting industry" co-organized by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Central Committee of Economy, Ministry of Industry and Trade on April 22, 2015, the delegates focused their discussion on solutions for efficient lighting. Among them, the solution to use LED lights as an alternative to traditional lamps is identified to achieve the energy saving and efficiency, which is also the main concern of many consumers and businesses.

 Organizing Board representatives at the workshop 

According to statistics, power consumption for lighting in Vietnam now accounts for 35% of the total power consumption of the country. This figure in the world is at around 15 - 17%

The workshop was meant to have pro-energy efficiency mechanisms and policies proposed to enhance domestic industry, the development of industrial enterprises in general, and businesses in the lighting industry in particular.

At the meeting, the participants also focused on discussing issues related to pro-energy efficiency policy, energy saving measures to be implemented, the current use of electricity for lighting, and solutions for economical use of electricity.

Mr. Le Tuan Phong - Deputy Director of General Department of Energy - Ministry of Industry and Trade, reveals that along with economic growth, the growth in electricity demand in Vietnam is also very fast, about 13% per year in 2010. After 2011 due to the economic downturn, the growth in electricity demand has decreased slightly but still at around 10%.

In the master plan of national energy development, Vietnam foresees an imbalance of domestic energy, so it will become an energy importing country after 2016. While demand increases, power saving is an urgent solution. The electricity demand growth is two times as much the GDP growth; the energy consumption for a product or for one dollar value is much higher in Vietnam than in other countries. Thus, the energy saving potential in Vietnam is huge.

Regarding the National target program on energy saving and efficiency in the period 2016 - 2020, to achieve its objectives, as reflected by Mr. Trinh Quoc Vu - Director of the Department of Science and Technology, General Department of Energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade, it is necessary to increase the funding for educational operations, and investment into deployment of energy-saving projects during this period. Along with that, provinces and centrally-controlled cities should coordinate the synchronous implementation of programs to save energy, allocate annual funds and human resources to implement the energy saving projects in specific localities. At the same time, key energy users should be strenthened to improve the quality of governance in the field of energy use and to continue to build the energy benchmarks for a number of focal industries.

Do Trong Tan