
“I put my hands on my forehead, thinking about my network of acquaintances and if there was anyone who was truly an ESG expert,” Phung Van Dong, director of AIT Vietnam, said, referring to the current shortage of ESG (environmental, social, governance) experts in Vietnam.
Speaking at the seminar “Digital Transformation and ESG Practices: The Key to Global Economic Integration” on June 24, Dong said that export businesses, banks, and listed companies in Vietnam face pressure to meet ESG standards set by their partners, foreign investors, and financial institutions.
According to a PwC survey, 78 percent of Southeast Asian CEOs view ESG as a strategic priority, yet 40 percent lack the workforce to meet these demands.
In Vietnam, while 80 percent of businesses have committed to or planned ESG implementation in the next 2–4 years, 60 percent cite a lack of specialized knowledge as the biggest barrier. 54 percent have never conducted ESG training for employees, and 38 percent lack a dedicated ESG leadership team.
Dong shared the story of a CEO of a major investment company in HCMC who, despite early adoption of ESG practices, still struggles to find qualified personnel.
Although businesses are in dire need of human resources capable of assessing and advising on ESG for partners, even when leveraging many relationships, they still cannot find the right person.
Dong said that the shortage of high-quality human resources, both in quantity and expertise, is becoming a major bottleneck in the journey toward digitalization and sustainable ESG implementation.
ESG cannot be separated from digital transformation, but Vietnam’s technology human resources in Vietnam are also in serious shortage.
Dong cited data showing that Vietnam aims to have 700,000 IT professionals by 2025, but currently has only about 530,000. Each year, around 57,000 IT students graduate, but only 30 percent meet enterprise requirements immediately after graduation.
“If the human resource issue is not addressed, ESG will continue to face implementation challenges,” Dong said.
Pillar of sustainable growth
With a global perspective and experience in implementing ESG at multinational corporations, Sam Hana, CEO and Vice President of Strategy for ASEAN Shell Global Lubricants, and co-director of the EMBA program at AIT, noted that ESG has become a top priority of the 21st century, serving as a strategic foundation for long-term development.
Hana also pointed out gaps in Vietnam’s ESG practices. Currently, up to 80 percent of businesses express commitment or plan to implement ESG, but 34 percent have yet to develop specific programs, and only 15 percent of large enterprises have comprehensive ESG reports.
Additionally, 76 percent of organizations lack a clear ESG governance structure, from role assignments to monitoring mechanisms.
Hana believes ESG is no longer optional but is now a prerequisite for businesses to survive and thrive in the new business environment. Vietnam has seen some pioneering industries achieve positive results, such as wood exports, banking, and logistics.
Deputy Minister of Home Affairs Nguyen Thi Ha said ESG has become an important measure for the sustainable development of businesses and countries.
Investors, consumers and the community are increasingly interested in the three factors—Environment, Society and Governance—in their decisions.
"Businesses that implement ESG standards well will have a competitive advantage, attract investment and build sustainable reputation," Ha said.
The first issue in implementing ESG is how Vietnamese enterprises, especially SMEs, can access and implement ESG effectively. Practice shows that there needs to be practical solutions that are suitable to specific conditions and capacities of each type of enterprise.
Hana suggested that to integrate ESG effectively, businesses should start by identifying key factors directly related to their operations and stakeholder interests, then embed ESG values into their core business strategy.
Luong Thai Bao from the Institute of Banking and Finance under the National Economics University, said Vietnam has established a national competitive strategy based on digital technology. In this context, national digital transformation serves as both a goal of industrial development policy and a tool to achieve other strategic national objectives, while also driving R&D, innovation and entrepreneurship.
At the micro level, businesses play a role of aggregating resources to execute plans and achieve goals. Technology is an endogenous growth factor, providing ways to combine labor and capital.
According to Bao, ESG and digital transformation align with the ultimate goal of making production models operate more efficiently, generating higher output while addressing new environmental and social responsibility constraints.
Tuan Nguyen