Page 394 - Ebook HTKH 2024

Figure 9. Reporting and Follow-up

4.3. Challenges in sustainable reporting in Vietnam
ESG reporting is moving from voluntary to mandatory. That is, increasingly

reporting regulations and standards are being proposed by regulators, governments, and
standard-setting bodies. In Vietnam, the Government has made efforts to promote
sustainable growth, such as: National Strategy on Climate Change for 2050,
Environmental Protection Law and guidelines, decree GHG emission and ozone layer
protection, Draft Decree on Personal Data protection, etc. Challenges in promoting ESG
practices in Viet Nam come from some reasons such as a weak governance structure
including ineffective internal audit; Financing and Data is a key barrier; Vietnamese

companies lag global counterparts in seeking independent assurance on ESG
disclosures. Most businesses in Vietnam are just standing out of the ESG journey. This
limits the internal audit function in auditing or consulting ESG. The findings of this
study clearly show the independence and objectivity of internal audit as the third role in
reporting about ESG information for sustainable reporting by a comprehensive approach
with competent staff.

Although market demand for sustainable business information continues to rise
rapidly, internal, and external stakeholders do not have the same awareness in the
reliability and quality of ESG information that they have in traditional financial data.
Due to the lack of internal audit’s competency and insufficient legislation of corporate
governance, risk management as well as internal controls in Vietnamese enterprises,

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