Introduction to ESG: Running a Sustainable Business in Vietnam

Oct 15, 2020 4:00 PM - 6:30 PM The Reverie Saigon Event Level Rating: II

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Running a Sustainable Business in Vietnam_v1

REGISTRATION GUIDELINE

Virtual and physical attendance are available.

For physical attendees, please register in advance to reserve your seat.

For virtual attendees, please register to receive the Zoom link.

Co-hosts

Gold Sponsor

DESCRIPTION

Over the past few years, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) criteria have become an integral part of a sustainable company’s assessment of its investment and growth.

ESG criteria are used to measure and track how a company’s operations affect, positively and negatively, the well-being of its environment, employees, suppliers, customers, and community. How a company applies ESG criteria increasingly defines its approach to leadership, management, and compliance.

In Vietnam, interest in ESG standards and their impact on growth is increasing in both the public and private sectors. The holistic integration of ESG criteria into most companies’ strategies is still at an early stage.

With this in mind, AmCham has created the new Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee. The ESG Committee will play a role in identifying Vietnamese and global ESG standards and best practice, in promoting ESG standards locally, and in assisting AmCham members to achieve their sustainable development objectives in Vietnam.

The ESG Committee’s kickoff event is scheduled for Thursday, October 15, 2020.

AGENDA

4:00 PM	Check-in and networking session for physical guests, with wine, beer, and soft drinks
4:15 PM	Check-in for virtual guests
4:30 PM	Welcoming Remarks ESG Committee co-Chair Ms. Le Tu Cam Ly Director, Public Affairs, Communications, and Sustainability, Coca-Cola
4:40 PM	What is ESG, and Why is it Important? Ms. Van Ly Partner, Raise Partners
4:50 PM	Vietnamese Companies’ Efforts to Adopt ESG/Sustainability Policies Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh Secretary General, Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)
5:00 PM	The Road Ahead for ESG/Sustainability Adoption in Vietnam ESG Committee Vice-Chair Mr. Mark Watson General Director, ERM Vietnam
5:10 PM	ESG/Sustainability Requirements of International Lenders/Stakeholders Ms. Maria E. Goravanchi Regional Managing Director, Lower Mekong U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) U.S. Embassy, Bangkok
5:20 PM	Panel Discussion and Q&A Moderated by ESG Committee co-Chair Mr. Gregory Testerman CEO, Testerman Advisory, LLC
6:00 PM	Closing Remarks Ms. Mary Tarnowka Executive Director, AmCham Vietnam
6:10 PM	Virtual Event ends Networking session continues for physical participants with wine, beer, and appetizers
6:30 PM	Event ends

COST

SPEAKERS

Van Ly

Corporate Sustainability and NGO Consultant

Van is a partner at Raise Partners, a new collaborative consulting practice bringing together expertise to share with organizations that contribute to the betterment of humanity. She has 20 years of experience working in both the private sector in branding and communications and the nonprofit sector in fundraising, communications, and program management. In particular, she has extensive experience in nonprofit fundraising and program strategy, strategic marketing and communications planning and delivery, grant writing, corporate social responsibility and citizenship, and donor and stakeholder engagement.

Van has a master’s degree in Southeast Asian Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a bachelor’s degree in International Studies from American University in Washington D.C.

Nguyen Quang Vinh

Secretary General of Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI)

Vice Executive Chairperson cum General Secretary of Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD)

Joining VCCI since 1992, Mr. Nguyen Quang Vinh has had 28 years of management experience in international relations and business sustainable development. During which, Vinh devoted his career path to VCCI’s International Relations Department for 13 years, being responsible for building and maintaining relationships with partners, and networks with individuals and organisations. He participated in the establishment of the Office for Business Sustainable Development (SDforB) of VCCI in 2006, the Global Compact Vietnam Network (GCVN) in 2007 and the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD) in 2010. Currently he is Secretary General of VCCI, Vice Executive Chairperson cum General Secretary of VBCSD. Vinh graduated from National Economics University, Finance & Banking Department and completed his MBA in International Business and Export Management in 1998 from Cass Business School, London, UK.

Mark Watson

Country Manager – ERM Vietnam

Mark Watson has over 35 years’ experience as an EHS professional spanning consulting, contracting, industry and government, across Australia and the Asia Pacific region. He has a career background in oil & gas, and strong sector experience in power and infrastructure. Mark has successfully led some of the largest and most complex Environmental Impact Assessments in the region. He joined ERM in 2011 and ERM Vietnam in 2018, where he has supported numerous power project developers and operators to secure international finance, by demonstrating their ability to manage their environmental and social issues. Mark is passionate about sustainable development and sees this as both a key challenge and a key success factor for the power sector in Vietnam.

Maria E. Goravanchi

Regional Managing Director, Lower Mekong

Maria Goravanchi is a Managing Director at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation’s (DFC), formerly the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). As DFC’s regional representative based in Bangkok, Thailand she is responsible for Lower Mekong business development. Ms. Goravanchi brings 15 years of private and public sector finance experience in underwriting, structuring and negotiating investments in emerging and frontier-market nations. She is focused on providing both financing and insurance solutions for long-term investments that strengthen DFC contributions to international development in sectors such as power, infrastructure and inclusive financial services.

Prior to OPIC, she worked as a strategy consultant and project manager on cross-border transactions with IBM Business Consulting Services and Abt Associates. Ms. Goravanchi earned an M.G.A. with a concentration in Public Finance from the University of Pennsylvania and a B.S. from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Gregory Testerman

ESG Committee Co-Chair

CEO, Testerman Advisory, LLC

Greg’s thirty-year career in international Corporate & Investment Banking spans four continents and all of the world’s major banking centers and capital markets. After training at JP Morgan Chase’s New York headquarters and in Europe, he worked seventeen years with Banco Santander throughout Europe, Asia, and Latin America, including as Chief Executive and Country Manager of Santander’s bank in Japan – with responsibility for Southeast Asian markets – and Chief Executive for Santander’s Miami branch, responsible for correspondent banking, trade finance, and structured trade throughout Latin America. He spent nine years as Treasurer and Senior Managing Director of Capital Markets for the Foreign Trade Bank of Latin America (“Bladex”), a supranational development bank. Throughout his banking career, Greg has specialized in building new businesses, and turning around challenged ones.