Lack of awareness and financial support for technology enabling Cleaner Production in Industry (CPI) had handicapped its introduction in Vietnam, said Nguyen Khac Kinh, deputy president of the Vietnam Association for Environment Impact Assessment.

Vinh Phu Battery Co in the northern province of Phu Tho applies CPI technology to reduce lead waste, saving the company VND200 million ($10,520) a year. CPI technology helps protect the environment and generates substantial economic benefits.

Kinh said the CPI was often perceived only as an environmental issue, but in reality it could generate substantial economic benefits.

He said that, for example, the national plan on the CPI (2001 –05), should have been produced by the former Ministry of Trade, but it was managed by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment. This slowed down its implementation.

Kinh said it was almost impossible to find funding or technical support for the CPI from any source other than environmental fundings.

A seminar on the CPI in Vinh Phuc province last week was told that although it had been introduced in Vietnam many years ago, it wasn\'t widely used by Vietnamese enterprises.

It was told that the CPI required smaller but more environmentally-friendly inputs while minimising production waste.

Dang Tung, head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade\'s Department for Science and Technology, said the application of CPI technologies was known to be economical, environmentally clean - and profitable.

A survey by the Vietnam Cleaner Production Centre found that the application of the CPI in Vietnam could save 40 to 70 per cent of water, 20 to 50 per cent energy, 50 to 100 per cent of toxic waste, and about 20 to 50 per cent of green gases.

It also found that cleaner production helped improve a company\'s image, increased productivity and led to sustainability.

In Phu Tho Province, the Vinh Phu Battery Company has applied the CPI technology to reduce lead waste from 5 to 3 per cent, saving the company VND200 million (US$10,520) a year.

Productivity also increased from 480 to 720 product units per hour - and electricity consumption was reduced almost by half, saving the company VND140 million ($7,370).

By using the new technology, the company also requires less workers, 500 instead of 650. This saves it VND250 million ($13,000) a year.

In total, the CPI technology saves the battery company VND590 million ($31,000) a year.

However, although some industries recognise the importance of the CPI, they face a challenge when applying for loans.

According to the Association for Environment Impact Assessment, banks consider the CPI only in terms of environmental protection and do not take into account the economic benefits.

They suggest it should be funded by the State\'s budget for environmental protection.

Kinh agreed that the CPI technology could be costly and time-consuming, making it an unaffordable practice for most industries.

He suggested policies be introduced to financially back enterprises, such as favourable loans, tax preferential treatment and access to other financial sources.

Kinh said apart from the Ministry of Industry and Trade, other government agencies such as the Ministry of Planning and Investment, Ministry of Finance, and State Bank should also be involved in supporting CPI.

He added that priority should be given to setting up CPI centres in localities throughout the nation.

At present, about 300 enterprises in Vietnam are using cleaner production technologies.

The Government ratified a strategy on promoting the CPI in September 2009. It hopes that within 10 years, 50 per cent of industry will employthe CPI technology, 90 per cent of medium and big enterprises will have a department exclusively for cleaner production.

The strategy also hopes to produce sufficient, well qualified officers to guide the application of CPI technologies.

And it encourages closer co-operation between research institutes, universities and enterprises in research on the subject.