The meeting aimed to promote and seek cooperation opportunities in the field of energy, promote the energy market and the goals of clean energy and climate in Southeast Asia. 

Welcoming and working with the Clean EDGE ASIA mission were Mr. Bui Minh Tien - member of the Board of Directors of Petrovietnam and leaders of the Electricity and Renewable Energy Division, Administrion Office of the Group. 

Overview of the meeting

At the meeting, Mr. Bui Minh Tien introduced to the mission an overview about the process of formation and development of Petrovietnam. Over 60 years of establishment and development, Petrovietnam has become a state-owned economic group, played a key role and pillar of Vietnam’s economy, operated in five main fields: Oil and gas exploration and production; Gas industry; Petroleum processing; Power and Renewable Energy Industry; High quality petroleum engineering services. With total consolidated assets to date of US$37 billion, consolidated equity is US$21 billion. 

Mr. Stephen Jacques highly appreciated Petrovietnam’s achievements and affirmed that it was favorable time for US businesses to explore and promote investment and business activities in Vietnam.

At the meeting, the two sides mentioned a number of energy fields to be able to cooperate in the near future. In the field of E5 gasoline, Mr. Bui Minh Tien affirmed that he welcomed the ideas of cooperation and development of the E5 gasoline market in Vietnam, contributing to reduction of emissions, or alternative solutions for fuel sources other than cassava from the representative of Energy Global. 

Petrovietnam member of the Board of Directors Bui Minh Tien spoke at the meeting

Notably, hydrogen is considered to be a clean energy source that plays an important role in the global energy structure and is an indispensable solution in energy transition and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. This is one of the issues that Petrovietnam is very interested in recently, with opportunities and advantages in developing the hydrogen field on the basis of the experience and available infrastructure of the Oil and Gas industry, especially “green” hydrogen with abundant renewable energy potential in Vietnam and the possibility of the existence of natural underground hydrogen accumulation. Petrovietnam wishes to seize the opportunity and prepare to approach the development trend of the hydrogen industry when conditions permit.   

According to Mr. Bui Minh Tien, energy transition is an inevitable trend and businesses operating in the energy sector, including Petrovietnam, must fulfill their commitments to contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating global climate change. He also affirmed that Petrovietnam was gradually orienting to develop into a large energy group in the country and in the region with the core business activities of oil exploration, production and processing, at the same time develop green and renewable energy sources in association with environmental protection and contribute to ensuring national energy security. 

Through the meeting and working with the Clean EDGE ASIA mission, Petrovietnam wished to receive valuable experiences and support from energy corporations in the world generally and US energy enterprises particularly in formulating a development strategy to adapt to the trend of energy transition, at the same time promote and develop forms of clean energy and renewable energy in the coming time.

In July 2018, the initiative of EDGE Asia (Enhancing Development and Growth through Energy) was announced as part of the economic pillar in the United States’ vision for the Indo-Pacific. 

The U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Energy Resources is spearheading this initiative with support from eight U.S. agencies: the Department of the Treasury (DOT), the Department of Commerce (DOC), the United States Export-Import Bank (EXIM), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA), Foreign Private Investment Corporation, Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Agriculture.