Singapore, 24 May 2024 (Friday) – Singapore Management University (SMU) has partnered VIETSTAR Training & Consulting JSC (Vietnam) on a new ASEAN Executive Sustainability Programme to provide energy industry leaders and managers with the opportunity to enhance their sustainable leadership capabilities.

Sustainable development in Asia

Sustainable development has become the focus of all development policies and an inevitable global trend. The global economy is shifting from "economic growth" to "sustainable and inclusive development", from the "brown economy" to the "green economy", from the "linear economy" to the "circular economy", and from the "real economy" to the "digital economy".

Sustainable development requires an integrated multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary development approach, simultaneously progressing on three dimensions: sustainable growth, prosperous and equitable society, and a healthy environment with sustainable resource management, in which the energy sector plays a crucial role.

The energy transition has become an irreversible trend for manufacturing enterprises and businesses around the world in order to achieve the goals of the 2015 Paris Agreement. Faced with the scarcity of fossil fuels and the environmental consequences leading to increasingly extreme weather events, many countries around the world, and ASEAN in particular, are actively promoting the development of alternative energy sources, especially renewable energy, to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions and move towards a sustainable green growth economy.

ASEAN Executive Sustainability Programme by SMU and VIETSTAR

In this context, the ASEAN Executive Sustainability Programme for the Energy Sector (AESP), offered by SMU and VIETSTAR, will provide energy industry leaders and managers with the opportunity to enhance their sustainable leadership capabilities, skills, and tools to explore, analyse, and evaluate strategic decisions related to energy transition, green finance, and green technology. The programme combines diverse learning methods, from theoretical foundations to case discussions led by a team of world-renowned faculty and experts in the fields of energy and sustainable development.

A highlight of the programme is the opportunity to learn and experience real-world applications in three pioneering countries in the region for green energy transition and sustainable development: Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam. This is facilitated by support from leading global groups in the energy sector, such as SK Group (South Korea), Sembcorp Industries (Singapore), and GE Vernova (USA).

The signing of this strategic collaboration agreement between SMU and VIETSTAR (Vietnam) for AESP can be considered as a pioneering step, aligned with the global trend of sustainable development and energy transition, particularly in the Asian region.

In February 2022, witnessed by the President of Vietnam and senior leaders from Singapore and Vietnam, SMU and VIETSTAR had inked a memorandum of agreement to jointly organise the Vietnam-Singapore Board Forum (VSBF).

This programme builds upon the achievements and mission of the Vietnam-Singapore Board Forum (VSBF) – a pioneering forum in the region for senior leaders from Vietnam, Singapore, and around the world to share experiences and initiatives on topics ranging from energy transition and sustainable growth to best-in-class corporate governance practices, helping to gather senior leaders from Southeast Asia and globally to promote innovation, sustainable business, and work towards a better world.

This new Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) was signed on May 23, 2024, at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Hanoi. This was witnessed by the VSBF Advisory Board, the VSBF Speaker Council, and representatives from major corporations in Singapore, Vietnam, and worldwide attending the Vietnam-Singapore Board Forum 2024 in Hanoi.

Commenting on the collaboration, Mr Eddie Tritton, VSBF Director and Executive Director of Executive Development, SMU, said: "We are delighted to enhance our partnership with Vietstar in the area of enhancing sustainable leadership capabilities for energy industry leaders internationally. This programme will provide energy industry leaders in the region with the knowledge and tools to build sustainable development strategies, and to meet community and investor expectations, while seizing opportunities from the global green economic development trend. Additionally, the programme will create a bridge for business leaders from different countries to share experiences on global governance – a solution to maintain sustainable green growth."