On 17 September 2026, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 46/2026/QĐ-TTg providing guidance on the identification of green projects, projects meeting circularity criteria, and the application of environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards. The Decision provides a basis for enterprises, business households and individual businesses to have clearer orientations for developing projects towards green, circular and sustainable development.
Applicable entities
The applicable entities include enterprises in the private economic sector, business households, individual businesses, and organisations and agencies involved in the assessment process and implementation of support policies.
Under the regulations, a green project must fall within the specified project types, have the specified objectives, and simultaneously meet the requirements set out in Appendix I. For projects meeting circularity criteria, the project must fall within one of the specified groups and meet the corresponding requirements for the relevant industry, sector or product set out in Appendix II.
The issuance of specific criteria and procedures for identification provides enterprises with an additional basis for reviewing projects and assessing their ability to meet requirements relating to greening production activities, efficient resource use and the implementation of circular solutions.
Four approaches to the circular economy
Decision No. 46/2026/QĐ-TTg identifies four groups of projects meeting circularity criteria, including: circular design and production; circular use; resource recovery; industrial symbiosis and circular linkages.
For the circular design and production group, projects aim to reduce the extraction and use of non-renewable resources, save water and energy, improve the efficiency of raw material and material use, and increase the use of environmentally friendly materials.
For the circular use group, activities such as reuse, repair, renovation, upgrading, refurbishment, conversion of use, remanufacturing, leasing or sharing of products, equipment and facilities are applied to extend the life cycle of products and materials.
Meanwhile, the resource recovery group focuses on the collection and recycling of by-products and waste, as well as solutions to limit waste generation. The industrial symbiosis and circular linkages group aims to promote linkages among sectors, industrial parks, industrial clusters, urban areas or concentrated residential areas in order to make more efficient use of raw materials, materials, energy and resources.
These are also areas of significance for Phú Thọ’s industrial development and sustainable investment attraction. The province’s orientation for green economic development for the 2026–2030 period, with a vision to 2050, has identified the promotion of green technologies and the circular economy, as well as the increased application of standards, including requirements related to ESG in production and business activities.
What do enterprises need to prepare?
One issue that enterprises need to pay particular attention to is that the identification of green projects and projects meeting circularity criteria is carried out through an independent assessment organisation meeting the conditions prescribed by regulations.
The assessment organisation must have legal personality, meet requirements for registration of operations, and belong to a type of organisation with functions for conformity assessment or provision of auditing services; it must also meet requirements concerning management systems and operational capacity under the prescribed standards and norms.
Enterprises wishing to have a green project identified need to prepare a written request and a project description in the prescribed format. For projects meeting circularity criteria, the dossier also includes a written request and a project description in the corresponding prescribed format.
Upon receipt of the dossier, the independent assessment organisation will inspect, review and assess the project on the basis of the prescribed criteria, ensuring independence and objectivity. The timeframe and costs for project identification shall be agreed between the independent assessment organisation and the enterprise in accordance with the law.
Based on these regulations, enterprises in Phú Thọ can proactively review projects that are currently being implemented or are under preparation for investment, particularly projects involving energy-efficient technologies, material savings, waste recycling, product reuse, clean energy development, or linkages for the use of by-products among production establishments.
Expanding access to support policies
For enterprises, proactively studying the new regulations not only helps provide a clearer understanding of the project’s development orientation but also contributes to standardising information, documentation and criteria related to environmental, social and governance matters.
In the context of Phú Thọ’s efforts to promote investment attraction in association with improved quality and sustainable development, green transformation, the circular economy and ESG will increasingly become areas that enterprises need to consider during investment, technological innovation and production expansion. The province is also orienting its development towards green industry and the circular economy and enhancing its capacity to meet market standards in the new period.
Proactively transforming to enhance competitiveness
Enterprises can start with practical measures such as assessing the level of energy and resource use; controlling waste; examining the potential for raw material reuse and recycling; innovating technologies; improving working conditions for workers; strengthening governance systems; and developing data to support ESG assessment.
Green transformation is therefore not only associated with environmental protection requirements but also entails the need to innovate production methods, governance and resource use. For enterprises, this may be a long-term process that needs to be implemented step by step, in line with the scale, business sector and investment capacity of each entity.
The Investment Promotion and Enterprise Support Center of Phú Thọ Province recommends that the business community proactively study Decision No. 46/2026/QĐ-TTg and its accompanying appendices; review projects currently under implementation and those to be implemented in the future to assess their ability to meet the criteria for green projects and circular projects, and gradually approach the ESG standards framework, thereby contributing to enhanced competitiveness and sustainable development.
By Tuyết Mai