On July 30, 2015, the "Conference on 5 year enforcement of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy period 2011- 2015" in the Central Coast region and the Central Highlands took place in Da Nang. The conference was held by the General Department of Energy - Ministry of Industry and Trade in collaboration with the Vietnam Association of Science and Technology in Economical and Efficient Use of Energy.

The conference was attended by officials from ministries and agencies such as the Government Office, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Construction, Representatives of the Provincial Departments of Trade and Industry, the Centre for Industrial Promotion and Trade Promotion, Energy Conservation CenterS of the central coastal provinces, the Central Highlands and representatives of the  Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) .

After Danang, the Law Review symposium will be held in Hanoi for the northern provinces and in Ho Chi Minh City for the southern provinces.

After nearly 5 years of enactment of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy and the Projects within the framework of the National Programs on Energy Savings and Efficiency, various positive results have been obtained. A system of legal documents have been issued, the political system has been activated to hit the targets for energy savings; to remove the barriers and to facilitate activities in economical and efficient  use of energy on a national scale. According to estimates by the Institute of Energy in the period 2011- 2015, energy-saving rate is nearly 6% of the total national energy consumption.

Mr. Do Huu Hao, Chairman of Science & Technology Association of Economical and Efficient Use of Energy in Vietnam delivers his opening speech for the Conference

Speaking at the conference, Mr. Do Huu Hao, Chairman of Science & Technology Association of Economical and Efficient Use of Energy in Vietnam said: "The conference is an opportunity for the state authorities, policy-makers, the ministries, branches, localities, businesses, experts in the field of energy to consider and discuss, evaluate the results of the implementation of activities in Economical and Efficient Use of Energy in the past period. Also it is for summarization of the lessons learned so that the proposed plans, programs of activities in the coming period would be consistent with the current situation".

The conference also acknowledged the Presentation on the evaluation of the impacts ofthe Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy; Presentation of the results of operations of the national target program for 2011-2015 and the presentation of the Ministry of Construction, Ministry of Transport and the Electricity of Vietnam on the deployment of programs in Economical and Efficient Use of Energy.

Mr. Dang Huy Cuong, Director General, General Department of Energy  Directorate of Energy

Mr. Dang Huy Cuong, Director General, General Department of Energy said: "Economical and Efficient Use of Energy is the strategy for sustainable development of many countries in the world, including Vietnam. The introduction of the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy has helped raise the awareness of enterprises and citizens in energy use. During 5 years of enactment, the Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy has helped remove barriers and created conditions to boost many operations in Economical and Efficient Use of Energy on a national scale.

Mr. Trinh Quoc Vu, Director of the Department of Science, Technology and Energy Efficiency, General Department of Energy, 

By June, 2015, in the framework of the national target program on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy 2012-2015, 386 projects have been implemented. Of these, 130 projects are on-going with additional funding of the year 2014. The Projects in the program focus on the four main groups of activities: Educational communication; Development of high-performance equipment, energy saving, gradual removal of low-performing equipment; Efficient energy use in buildings; energy saving in the transport sector promoted.

Mr. Tran Manh Hung, Energy Institute presents the results from operations of the National Target Programme on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy  2011-2015

The program was launched with several contests and campaigns like Earth Hour response, Buildings of energy efficiency, Competition "Saving energy in industry and buildings", "Family Power Saving", workshops to discuss Law on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy for enterprises in the province.

Mr. Tran Viet Nguyen ,Vice director of Business Division,  Electricity of Vietnam

The program also establishes relatively complete legal document system, specifying the sanctions for operational management of the program to apply energy efficiency standards and energy labeling for energy consuming vehicles and equipment; and domestic vehicles, equipment widely used in daily life.

By the end of 2014, there were 7289 products of 14 targeted groups licensed with energy label by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. In the same period, 250 officials from 126 enterprises were trained in ISO 50001 system.

Mr. Nguyen Cong Thinh, Deputy Director of Science and Technology and Environment, the Ministry of Construction

For projects that enhance energy efficiency in buildings, the Ministry of Construction issued the National Technical Regulation on the construction of energy efficiency QCVN 09/2013/BXD. At the same time, the Ministry have also reviewed, supplemented or modified the draft regulations on public lighting to meet the requirements of the Vietnamese Standards QCVN 07: 2014/BXD.

Trong Tan