Hanoi – September 14, 2016 – The Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Vietnam and the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI) signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) today to pursue cooperation and collaboration for sustainable bioenergy development in Vietnam.

The LOI was signed by Ingmar Stelter, Director of MOIT/GIZ Energy Support Programme, and Adam Ward, GGGI’s Country Representative in Vietnam, and formalized mutual collaboration and cooperation in the following areas:

1. Development of biomass waste-to-energy provincial planning
2. Development of pre-feasibility studies for bagasse based CHP projects of sugar mills
3. Assisting bankable bioenergy projects to access financing sources
4. Green growth capacity development activities with a focus on energy
5. Knowledge and experience sharing on policy, institutional frameworks and green growth strategy

This cooperation falls under the framework of a Memorandum of Understanding signed in 2011 in which GIZ and GGGI committed to establish an active cooperation in combating global climate change and promoting green growth and sustainable development in developing countries.

Since 2008, GIZ has been working with the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT) in Vietnam to increase the utilization of renewables for electricity production and improve energy efficiency via three major action areas i) development and improvement of the regulatory framework to support the achievement of the strategic energy development targets ii) provision of capacity development to key stakeholders to facilitate renewable energy development iii) foster technology transfer between German and Vietnamese companies.

”This partnership will increase biomass-to-energy, reducing Vietnam’s emissions from the power sector, the largest current and future emitting sector. This work will be crucial in Vietnam’s tranisition to green growth and achievement of thier Nationally Determined Contribution,” said Adam Ward.

The designed activities of GIZ align with the priorities of GGGI  to enable developing countries’ transition to a  green growth development path that supports economic growth that is socially inclusive, environmentally sustainable and reduces proverty. The collaboration between GIZ and GGGI on bioenergy is expected to bring synergy, facilitate knowledge sharing and optimization across the two institutions, and consequently enhance quality of the deliverables to MOIT.

Vietnam has enjoyed rapid economic growth over the past twenty years, bringing about social improvements, but also raising new challenges. Therefore, in 2012 the Government adopted the ambitious Vietnam National Green Growth Strategy (VNGGS) with a focus on reducing energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of the country’s economy and switching to alternative energy.

Collaboration between GIZ and GGGI via this LOI intends to assist the Government of Vietnam in reaching its biomass energy targets. Tapping Vietnam’s huge bioenergy potential will help not only reduce the dependency of Vietnam on conventional energies, reduce carbon emission and environment pollution but also bring economic benefits to farmers who participate in the bioenergy value chain.