SK strengthens green business cooperation with the Vietnamese government, including renewable energy and resource recycling projects.
According to SK Group on October 29, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and leading CEOs in the green sector visited Hanoi, Vietnam, for two days from October 27 to meet with government officials, attend the opening ceremony of the National Innovation Center (NIC), and participate in the National Hydrogen Summit.
On October 16-18, Chairman Chey chaired a CEO seminar in Paris, France, where he discussed global strategies such as organizing by economic blocs as a methodology for navigating the cataclysmic times and creating a package of solutions from an energy, AI, and environmental perspective.
The trip drew attention as the first global field inspection after the seminar. Vietnam is a country that SK has been using as a base in Southeast Asia because of its strengths, including a safe zone relatively free from security risks, long-standing trust with the local government and businesses, and well-equipped infrastructure as one of Korea's three largest trading partners.
In particular, the local government is promoting "net-zero by 2050" as a key national issue, which is expected to be synergistic with SK's green business and ESG management policies.
On October 27, Chairman Chey held talks with Vietnamese National Assembly Speaker Vuong Dinh Hue at the National Assembly, and the next day met with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh at the National Innovation Center located in the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park to discuss green business cooperation in depth.
"We will utilize advanced technologies such as hydrogen, carbon capture and utilization (CCUS), small nuclear reactors (SMRs), and energy solutions to support Vietnam's clean energy transition and work together to achieve net-zero," said Chairman Chey at events such as the National Hydrogen Summit. "Together with the Vietnamese government and partners, we aim to build a green ecosystem from production to consumption."
In May, the Vietnamese government announced that it will reduce its dependence on coal and increase the share of renewable power generation. SK E&S, which has high competitiveness in the field, has completed and commercially operated 281 MW of solar and offshore wind power plants in the country. In addition, the company plans to build an additional 756MW of onshore wind farms and promote clean hydrogen and LNG projects.
SKC is building the world's largest biodegradable material production facility in Hai Phong, Vietnam, with the goal of operating it in 2025, and SK ecoplant has applied AI technology to the Bac Ninh incineration facility in northern Vietnam and is exploring waste treatment and battery recycling businesses with local resource recycling companies.
Vietnam is accelerating its evolution from manufacturing to high-tech sectors. In response, SK contributed $30 million to build the National Innovation Center to foster startups and support technological innovation.
Meanwhile, as the inaugural event of the National Innovation Center, SK set up an exhibition pavilion at the Vietnam International Innovation Expo (VIIE) 2023, held from October 28 to November 1, and presented Hanoi 30 years after it was transformed into a high-tech futuristic city in virtual reality, which received a high response from government officials.
