The importance of ESG to the sustainable development of businesses

On April 23, 2024, Mr. Nguyen Huu Hieu, CEO of FiinGroup, participated in the "ESG in Action - Practical Implementation of ESG" workshop organized by the Hanoi Stock Exchange (HNX) and the Ho Chi Minh City Stock Exchange (HSX) in collaboration with the Independent Directors' Association of Vietnam (VNIDA), the Internal Audit Institute of Vietnam (IIA Vietnam), and professional ESG advisory firms - CGS Vietnam and EGP Vietnam.

The workshop shared insights on integrating ESG into governance practices, practical experiences in implementing ESG in Vietnamese enterprises, and discussions on the perspectives and directions of relevant stakeholders regarding ESG in businesses. 

During the event, Mr. Nguyen Huu Hieu shared valuable insights regarding ESG data and the challenges faced by Vietnamese enterprises due to the lack of ESG data, along with potential solutions. Some key points shared by FiinGroup include: 

• In the context of sustainable development becoming a global trend, disclosing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) information plays a crucial role in a company's development strategy. However, Vietnamese enterprises still encounter difficulties in building and disclosing comprehensive and effective ESG reports. 

• The availability of ESG data for Vietnamese enterprises is very low. Most Vietnamese enterprises have not yet established a system to collect, monitor, and report comprehensive ESG data in compliance with international standards. 

• Vietnamese enterprises may lose competitive advantages compared to competitors with better ESG information. Competitors who transparently disclose ESG effectiveness will impress customers, partners, and investors, thereby attracting more resources and gaining a competitive edge in the market. 

• Conversely, enterprises lacking ESG data will struggle to demonstrate their commitment to sustainable development, potentially receiving lower evaluations and missing out on opportunities to collaborate with international suppliers requiring ESG compliance. 

• Despite recognizing the importance of ESG, many Vietnamese enterprises have not invested sufficiently in building comprehensive ESG reporting systems. ESG is still often viewed as a peripheral activity rather than integrated into the company's overall strategy. 

• To address these challenges, enterprises need to establish comprehensive ESG reporting systems and enhance awareness and skills related to ESG. Rather than treating ESG as a peripheral activity, enterprises should integrate ESG goals into their overall strategy and decision-making processes, allocating a separate budget for ESG initiatives. 

About FiinGroup

Established in 2008, FiinGroup is a leading integrated service provider of financial data, business information, industry research, credit rating service, and other data-driven analytics services for the Vietnam market. We are serving more than 1,000 local and foreign financial institutions and corporations through our fintech platform as a service (PaaS), annual packages and on-call services.

FiinRatings Joint Stock Company (“FiinRatings”), a member of FiinGroup and a technical collaboration partner with S&P Global Ratings, is a local licensed Credit Rating Agency in Vietnam. FiinRatings provides credit ratings and related services to issuers, creditors and investors in Vietnam credit market. FiinRatings has developed and standardized credit rating models for more than 50 industries and sub-sectors of Vietnamese enterprises.