Hanoi (VNA) – A workshop took place in Hanoi on July 6 to share Japan’s experiences and policy suggestions for Vietnam in developinga roadmap to implement circular economy.

It was co-held by the Institute of Policy and Strategy inNatural Resources and Environment (ISPONRE), the Japan InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA) and Japanese engineering consultancy Nippon KoeiVietnam International (NKV), aiming to provide a rationale for developing anational action plan on circular economy in Vietnam.

Hosono Tomoyuki, who leads a group of JICA/NKV researchers,shared the outcomes of JICA’s Survey on Circular Economy (CE) in Vietnam whichstarted in January. He said its main objective is to collect basic informationabout CE in Vietnam and Japan, analyse the structure of regulatory frameworkfor CE in Vietnam and Japan’s vision for CE, and review basic plans for the constructionof a sound material-cycle society.

It also intends to provide recommendations on a draftframework of the national action plan on CE based on practices in Japan andother countries regionally and globally, he added.

The concept of a circular economy has been around in Japansince 1999 in an effort to address environmental and natural resourcechallenges to the country’s sustainable development in the 21st century,for example, minimizing landfills and preventing future exhaustion of natural resources.

Lai Van Manh from ISPONRE gave attendees an overview of thepotential draft of the action plan, saying ministries and provincialadministrations must incorporate circular economy into their strategy, planning,programmes and projects since the drafting stage and promote the management, recyclingand reuse of waste.

Businesses should be required to take measures to reduce relianceon natural resources, cut disposal of solid waste and accelerate recycling anduse of waste throughout the development and distribution of their products, hesaid, adding that the government must introduce requirements, a roadmap andincentives for the implementation of circularly economy, relevant to Vietnam’ssituation.

The Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources hascrafted the national action plan on CE which is scheduled to be released beforeDecember 31, 2023./.