Comments on the draft Decree detailing and guiding the implementation of certain Articles of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020

On May 13, 2021, Assoc.Prof. Dr. Nguyen Hong Quan, Director of the Institute for Circular Economy Development (ICED) was one of the experts who participated the online meeting and gave some comments on the draft Decree detailing and guiding the implementation of certain Articles of the Law on Environmental Protection 2020. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Vo Tuan Nhan, Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.

In his speech, Dr. Quan proposed to add some criteria such as regional criteria; criteria for evaluating the implementation of the circular economy (CE) in some key production areas; criteria for connecting businesses and industrial parks; particularly criteria for evaluating the priority level among economic-social-environmental one in Article 187 Circular Economy Criteria.

In Article 188 of the Roadmap for the Implementation of the CE, Dr. Quan proposed for circular economy programs and projects with high linkages between ministries/sectors should be directed by the Prime Minister. Additionally, the Government and People’s Committees of provinces and cities need to develop pilot mechanisms for implementing CE models/projects in practice e.g., given institutional constrains. The participation of the Ministry of Education and Training is required to integrate circular economy programs and solutions in education and training activities. In addition, the establishment of the National Council on Circular Economy serves as the basis for assessment and encouragement activities regarding the CE is also needed.

In Clause 2 of Article 189 of Encouragement the implementation of the circular economy, Dr. Quan suggested providing a platform for sharing products/resources in the CE; having policies to support the infrastructure system of manufactures, who are deploying CE activities, and preferential capital sources for enterprises, especially for small, medium and micro enterprises, which are in transitioning towards the CE; and establishing national/local Funds to promote research, applications and innovation in the field of CE.