On December 22nd 2016, the pilot Voluntary agreement (VA) program signing ceremony was organized by the General Directorate of Energy at the head office of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT). 

The signing ceremony attracted the participation of representatives of the General Directorate of Energy, Clean Production and Energy Efficiency (CPEE) Project, World Bank, enterprises selected to participate in the pilot VA program, energy efficiency - related associations, local consultant and reporters of online newspaper, print newspapers and television channels. 

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Mr. Do Duc Quan, Deputy Director of the General Directorate of Energy emphasized that: "The voluntary agreement on energy efficiency is signed by representatives of the General Directorate of Energy and enterprises. Enterprises joining the signing ceremony today are first ones in the whole country selected to participate in the pilot VA program. We hope that, thanks to such program, enterprises shall have chances to improve their capacity, reduce energy consumption, reduce production costs, improve their competitiveness so as to abide by legal provisions and achieve sustainable development". 

The pilot VA program on energy efficiency is part of the CPEE Project sponsored by the World Bank and Global Environment Fund (GEF). Joining the VA program, enterprises commit to fulfilling their goal of  reduction of energy consumption in production processes on the basis of the MOIT's support. 

Objectives of the VA program is to promote energy-saving activities in the industry in Vietnam; to help enterprises improve their energy efficiency, reduce production costs, improve their competitiveness and conform to provisions of the law. 

Enterprises participating in the VA program shall receive the MOIT's certificate and trophy if they carry out energy efficiency solutions well. Additionally, they shall be entitled to image promotion in events organized by the MOIT, training course participation in order to improve their energy efficiency-related  awareness and capacity. Especially, they shall enjoy the free first energy audit helping them evaluate their energy usage situation, determine energy efficiency solutions then make plan on implementation of such solutions.

The VA program is deployed on the national scale. Industrial enterprises, large energy-consuming enterprises, enterprises having aspiration of making and implementation of the long-term and sustainable plan on energy efficiency in the production are both entitled to join the VA program. 

The VA program lasts for 10 years including 2 years being the duration of the pilot one. After the pilot VA program ends, the MOIT shall evaluate its implementation and amend contents of agreements before scaling up the VA program in the future. 

7 enterprises participating in the pilot VA program are Ricoh Imaging Products Vietnam; Annora Vietnam Footwear, Co. Ltd; Vinh Hue Paper JSC; Colusa - Miliket Foodstuff JSC; Dong Xuan knitting sole member limited liability Company; VietNam Dairy Products J.S Company (Vinamilk) – Sai Gon Dairy Factory; Vietnam Food Joint Stock Company. 

Here are some pictures of the signing ceremony: 

Mr. Hoang Viet Dung, representative of CPEE Project 

Mr. Mai Van Huyen, representative of ECC HCMC 

Representative of the General Directorate of Energy and enterprises signing the voluntary agreement 

Representatitve of Directorate of Energy giving the pilot VA program participation certificate to representative of Annora Vietnam Footwear, Co. Ltd

Representatitve of Directorate of Energy giving the pilot VA program participation certificate to representative of Dong Xuan knitting sole member limited liability Company

Representatitve of Directorate of Energy giving the pilot VA program participation certificate to representative of Ricoh Imaging Products Vietnam

Representatitve of Directorate of Energy giving the pilot VA program participation certificate to representative of Colusa - Miliket Foodstuff JSC

Representatitve of Directorate of Energy giving the pilot VA program participation certificate to representative of Vietnam Food Joint Stock Company

 Ngoc Diep