HCM City (VNS/VNA) - Enterprises of all sizes should adoptsustainable development practices and models that include a focus oneconomic, social and environmental protection, speakers said at aninternational conference held on November 6 in Ho Chi MinhCity. 

Cao ThiNgoc Dung, President of the HCM City Association for Women Executives &Entrepreneurs, said that environmental pollution was worsening and that by2030 energy demand would rise 33 percent while water needs wouldincrease by 41 percent in Vietnam. 

"A mindsetof sustainable development is a must. An enterprise should considerpeople as the centre and basis for development,” she added.

She notedthat corporate social responsibility activities of businesses contributeto sustainable development by balancing the economy, society andenvironment.

Leadingacademic researchers, scholars and practitioners at the conference, whichdiscussed "sustainable development in the connected age", spoke abouthow marketing, branding, human resource strategies, and business models couldcontribute to sustainable development.

Qualitycustomer services at all businesses can make significantcontributions to sustainable development, speakers said. 

FlorianJohannes Beranek, principal expert on social responsibility at theUN's Industrial Development and Organisation and other UN programmes, saidthat developing countries often viewed consumer rights as a marketobstacle and that governments were struggling with the provision ofessential services. 

Most developmentprojects just aim for awareness-raising, sustainable and greenconsumption, or some level of cleaner production, he said.

Theimportant goal of domestic market development requires the establishmentof a consumer-driven control mechanism, which would help provide direction forall stakeholder groups, Beranek said.

In theretail industry, for example, customer loyalty is fundamentalto business sustainability and profitability. Besides attracting newcustomers, retaining customers is a valuable business strategy since it iseffective and less expensive.

UN's SustainableDevelopment Goals

As forthe UN's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), there continues to be aserious investment gap. In June 2018, UN General Assembly PresidentMiroslav Lajcak reported that while 92 percent of business executives supportthe SDGs, only 17 percent have plans or policies to achieve them, andconcrete actions, partnerships and policies are still lacking.

Accordingto Asia and the Pacific SDG Progress Report 2019, on its current trajectory,Asia and the Pacific will not achieve any of the 17 SDGs by 2030. Hence, moreeffort is needed to produce actionable and effective work, speakers said.

Theconference was held by HCM City Open University in co-operation with the BerlinSchool of Economics and Law in Germany and other universities and organisations./.