Circular Economy SDG Booster final events brought Finnish companies together with Thai and Vietnamese companies
30 December 2020
The Circular Economy SDG Booster workshops culminated into two final events where Finnish companies and organizations had the chance to discuss directly with local stakeholders. The first final event focusing on Thailand was organized on 25 November 2020, and the other focusing on Vietnam on 9 December 2020. Both final events were organized digitally.
Before the final events with Thailand and Vietnam, Finnish companies had come together in two digital SDG Booster workshops in September, where they teamed up to discuss how the pre-mapped challenges in circular economy in Vietnam and Thailand could be turned into long-term business opportunities with local companies and organizations. The first two workshops focused on both Thailand and Vietnam, while the final events with local companies were organized separately.
The SDG Booster final event focusing on Thailand gathered participants from Finland and Thailand to discuss potential business partnership opportunities on November 25th, 2020. The event was organized in collaboration with the Embassy of Finland in Bangkok and brought together over 50 participants. At the event, the participants were divided into four discussion topic groups, where they had the chance to discuss in more detail about the possible challenges and opportunities in the areas of landfills, rivers, biowaste and waste-to-value. The event also included excellent keynote speeches by the Ambassador-Designate of Finland, Mr Jyri Järviaho, Dr. Chindarat Taylor from Resource Efficiency Pathway as well as Ms Sawita Tinsuntisook from the Waste to Energy Trade Association. The event also had government representatives from Thailand interested to hear more about Finnish solutions in circular economy and waste-to-energy.
The final event focusing on Vietnam, which was organized on December 9th, brought together over 60 participants from Vietnam and Finland. The event was organized in collaboration with the Embassy of Finland in Hanoi and Vietrade. The event included vivid discussions between Finnish and Vietnamese companies and organizations in four different thematic groups, focusing on similar topics as the final event with Thai companies. The event also included keynote speeches by the Ambassador of Finland, Kari Kahiluoto, LLD. Director of the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Agency, Duong Thanh An and the Deputy Director General of Vietrade, Hoang Minh Chien. The event has led to fruitful discussions and participants have actively visited the Miro board (collaborative online platform) used at the event.
Following the final events, the first discussions on potential joint projects and collaboration have already taken place between many of the participants. The organizers are eagerly looking forward to supporting the new projects through their financing and other services.
The SDG Booster workshops are organized by Finnpartnership, UNTIL, Fingo, Business Finland and Education Finland and facilitated by Vision Factory. The goal of the SDG Booster process, piloted by the organizers in 2020, is to accelerate progress to the Sustainable Development Goals through the creation and implementation of innovative digital technology projects. To learn more about the SDG Boosters workshop concept, please have a look at the short video available here.