Developing cleaner production consultants
Thứ sáu, 19/10/2012
The underdevelopment of cleaner production consultants is largely due to the small market and insufficient incentives, said Tran An, the Deputy Director of the EPRO Consulting Joint Stock Company, which has for years taught cleaner production consultation for the Cleaner Production in Industry (CPI) Component and the National Strategy on Cleaner Production. Vietnam Economic News’ reporter Bao Ngoc spoke with him.
The underdevelopment of cleaner production consultants is largely due to the small market and insufficient incentives, said Tran An, the Deputy Director of the EPRO Consulting Joint Stock Company, which has for years taught cleaner production consultation for the Cleaner Production in Industry (CPI) Component and the National Strategy on Cleaner Production. Vietnam Economic News’ reporter Bao Ngoc spoke with him.
Consultation is one of vital factors for cleaner production projects. What are your views on the current state of cleaner production consultants?
Apart from professional cleaner production consulting companies, there are many cleaner production facilities like the Vietnam Clean Production Center (VNCPC) and EPRO, plus energy efficiency and conservation centers that are involved in cleaner production such as the Ho Chi Minh City Energy Efficiency and Conservation Center and the Hai Phong Energy Efficiency and Cleaner Production Center. However, most of them are located in major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hai Phong. Particularly, consultants who have trained under the support of the CPI and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have still remained in business and have helped each other in difficult cases. In terms of quality, local teams in provinces like Thai Nguyen, An Giang and Da Nang have done a good job. However, most cleaner production consultants need more practice and experience.
As an experienced consultant, what do you think is the biggest difficulty for cleaner production consultants?
I think, it's the market, which is not large enough for professional consultants. Cleaner production consultation is not a hard job as it requires more practice than theory. This explains why many people can do a good job without learning theory, meaning that the most important thing is to expand the market for them.
Secondly, due to insufficient incentives consultants are not very interested in cleaner production projects. Local authorities tend to hire consultants to make a quick evaluation of cleaner production in their localities, rather than do it by themselves. This is why independent cleaner production consulting centers are usually stronger than consulting centers under provincial and municipal departments of industry and trade.
What do you think should be done to overcome these barriers?
I think it is needed to increase wages of local cleaner production officers to encourage them to take part in cleaner production projects, rather than hire independent consultants. In the short term, it is necessary to link local officers with independent professional consulting companies given that local officers lack both experience and skills. However, relying on the external workforce will not be good for local officers in the long term as it will require greater budgets and will not create opportunities for local officers to practice their skills and garner experience. For this reason, provinces and cities should progressively reduce the use of external consultants and increase the numbers of their own consultants. Ideal rates should be 75/25 (75 percent of consultants hired and 25 percent are local officers) initially, 50/50 after that and 25/75 finally.
Although the CPI Component was completed, the National Strategy on Cleaner Production has continued. What role will cleaner production consultants play in the success of the strategy?
Although the National Strategy on Cleaner Production was launched, businesses and local authorities have mostly relied on the State Budget, rather than devise and launch their own action programs using the State's assistance funds. In this situation, cleaner production consultants should step in to resolve the problems for businesses, provinces and cities.
Specifically, they need to make businesses understand that cleaner production would bring about benefits for businesses. Applying cleaner production methods is a simple and cheap thing to do. They need to do no more than to change their habits, thinking and business ways, rather than stay and wait for the State's assistance. Take KIDO, an ice-cream production company located in Ho Chi Minh City, for example. After receiving consultation from the Ho Chi Minh City Energy Efficiency and Conservation Center and realizing the benefits derived from cleaner production, the company has drawn-up and launched plans to save power, water and oil and has reported renovations annually. Profits earned from cleaner production have helped the company sharpen its competitive edge and strengthened its position in the market./.
Apart from professional cleaner production consulting companies, there are many cleaner production facilities like the Vietnam Clean Production Center (VNCPC) and EPRO, plus energy efficiency and conservation centers that are involved in cleaner production such as the Ho Chi Minh City Energy Efficiency and Conservation Center and the Hai Phong Energy Efficiency and Cleaner Production Center. However, most of them are located in major cities such as Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang and Hai Phong. Particularly, consultants who have trained under the support of the CPI and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have still remained in business and have helped each other in difficult cases. In terms of quality, local teams in provinces like Thai Nguyen, An Giang and Da Nang have done a good job. However, most cleaner production consultants need more practice and experience.
As an experienced consultant, what do you think is the biggest difficulty for cleaner production consultants?
I think, it's the market, which is not large enough for professional consultants. Cleaner production consultation is not a hard job as it requires more practice than theory. This explains why many people can do a good job without learning theory, meaning that the most important thing is to expand the market for them.
Secondly, due to insufficient incentives consultants are not very interested in cleaner production projects. Local authorities tend to hire consultants to make a quick evaluation of cleaner production in their localities, rather than do it by themselves. This is why independent cleaner production consulting centers are usually stronger than consulting centers under provincial and municipal departments of industry and trade.
What do you think should be done to overcome these barriers?
I think it is needed to increase wages of local cleaner production officers to encourage them to take part in cleaner production projects, rather than hire independent consultants. In the short term, it is necessary to link local officers with independent professional consulting companies given that local officers lack both experience and skills. However, relying on the external workforce will not be good for local officers in the long term as it will require greater budgets and will not create opportunities for local officers to practice their skills and garner experience. For this reason, provinces and cities should progressively reduce the use of external consultants and increase the numbers of their own consultants. Ideal rates should be 75/25 (75 percent of consultants hired and 25 percent are local officers) initially, 50/50 after that and 25/75 finally.
Although the CPI Component was completed, the National Strategy on Cleaner Production has continued. What role will cleaner production consultants play in the success of the strategy?
Although the National Strategy on Cleaner Production was launched, businesses and local authorities have mostly relied on the State Budget, rather than devise and launch their own action programs using the State's assistance funds. In this situation, cleaner production consultants should step in to resolve the problems for businesses, provinces and cities.
Specifically, they need to make businesses understand that cleaner production would bring about benefits for businesses. Applying cleaner production methods is a simple and cheap thing to do. They need to do no more than to change their habits, thinking and business ways, rather than stay and wait for the State's assistance. Take KIDO, an ice-cream production company located in Ho Chi Minh City, for example. After receiving consultation from the Ho Chi Minh City Energy Efficiency and Conservation Center and realizing the benefits derived from cleaner production, the company has drawn-up and launched plans to save power, water and oil and has reported renovations annually. Profits earned from cleaner production have helped the company sharpen its competitive edge and strengthened its position in the market./.