As a global social enterprise, POSCO is well-known for its numerous activities that have been contributing to social and economic development both at national and local level. Today, we would like to share the stories of POSCO-Vietnam’s scholarship programs.

POSCO-Vietnam has been providing scholarship programs for schools of Tan Thanh district in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province and for students of Korean Studies Department at University of Da Lat, in Lam Dong province. In addition, through POSCO Asia Fellowship in Vietnam, POSCO-Vietnam has granted the POSCO TJ Park scholarships to excellent students of Vietnam National University- Ho Chi Minh City.

Scholarships for Struggling Students at Tan Thanh District, Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province

Tan Thanh is a district where POSCO-Vietnam is operating its business. Across the district, there are 37 schools of which almost every student is studying under poor condition. Recognizing this situation, POSCO-Vietnam decided to launch a scholarship program as the branch initiated its business in 2006. Since then, POSCO-Vietnam annually grants around 130 scholarships and 10 bicycles to many students of impoverished conditions.

“POSCO– Vietnam has great contributions to local community, especially for poor people and students. I highly appreciated its support for its eight consecutive years of POSCO-Vietnam scholarships program”, said Mr. Le Van Xuong-Chairman of Tan Thanh District.

Living in Tan Thanh district’s Toc Tien village, a student named Nguyen Thi Hue, grade 8, receives a scholarship from the program. Her father is a xe om driver (motorbike taxi) and her mother is an amateur embroiderer. However, their combined incomes are insufficient to support and educate their three children. Every morning, she gets a bike lift from her friends or rides from her father to get to her school which is 3km away from her home. When she fails to get a ride, she needs to walk all the way to the school.

“Since today, I don’t walk anymore because POSCO-Vietnam gives me a bike and notebooks for school. Thank you friends for lifting me until now and POSCO-Vietnam for these precious gifts”, said Hue.

Around 1,000 students received scholarship with this program since 2006.

Scholarships for Students of Korean Studies Department at University of Da Lat

With the purpose of finding the best employees for interpreter positions (Korean-Vietnamese), POSCO has been maintaining a friendly relationship with University of Da Lat since 2009. For the past six years, POSCO-Vietnam has been granting 30 scholarships to the students of Korean Studies or Oriental Studies Department at university of Da Lat.

On October 28, POSCO-Vietnam scholarship was granted to five excellent students at a meeting hall of University of Da Lat. “We hope that these scholarships are encouragements for students to make their efforts in studying and pursue their own dreams, becoming the pioneers for the country’s development. We believe the scholarships of POSCO-Vietnam will be an initiation for the students’ future success”, said Yun Yang Su, General Director of POSCO-Vietnam.

As a response, Mr. Nguyen Duc Hoa, the principle of the university, expressed his appreciation to POSCO-Vietnam for its support and assistance during the past years. He also expressed his hope that the scholarship program would be a bridge for long-term cooperation between the university and POSCO-Vietnam to encourage students to build up their bright future.

POSCO TJ Park Scholarships in Vietnam

The POSCO TJ Park Foundation, a non-profit organization that nurtures prospective young talents in Asia, has been providing more than 150 scholarships to students of the largest and most distinguished university in Vietnam, named Vietnam Nation University – Ho Chi Minh City.

“POSCO TJ Park Scholarship played an important role in our lives for us by encouraging us and making us a step closer to our dreams.”, said the 4^th year student, Huynh Minh Thuan.

Representative for POSCO TJ Park Scholarship Foundation, Yun Yang Su-POSCO-Vietnam’s General Director hoped that the scholarship recipients would make their efforts in studying so that they could take part in the training courses for MA or Ph.D in Korea, sponsored by POSCO Asia Fellowship, and get a chance to learn about Korean culture as well. He also stated that recipients would prove their qualifications to become gifted leaders contributing for Vietnam’s development and Asian region as well.

The POSCO Asia Fellowship supports the prospective leaders of Asia by providing full tuition and living expenses to young talents from Asian countries as they enroll in master’s or doctoral programs at some of the most prestigious Korean universities or institutions and experience the Korean society and culture. So far, the fellowship has sponsored 39 Vietnamese students to take courses in Korea since its establishment. 

To Create Bright Future for Students
POSCO-Vietnam does not only offer occupations for parents but also supports their children for better academic circumstance through its scholarship program. As POSCO-Vietnam build POSCO Village for the local people living in poverty, the branch will continue to create an academic environment to educate the young generation for the bright future of Vietnam.

(This episode is provided by POSCO’s global storyteller, Mr. Nguyen Van Nam)

One of Vietnam’s poorest communities rings in the New Year with new classrooms, homes, and infrastructure for life.

In Tan Hoa Commune, they’re celebrating Tết—Vietnam’s New Year—in a brand new place.

“Even living to this age, I have never imagined that I would ever have such a beautiful house to live in,” says Mrs. Tran Kim Xuyen, 72. Mrs. Xuyen is the owner of a new 35-square-meter home with a kitchen, bedroom, and living room—a spacious change from her family’s former low-roofed abode.

As one of rural Vietnam’s poorest communities, Tan Hoa was selected by POSCO and Habitat for Humanity as the destination for a joint development mission. Located in the Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, the area is known for its developing petroleum, electricity, steel, and chemical industries. Now, resources for local residents are catching up.

On January 14^th, a total of 153 volunteers arrived in Tan Hoa Commune in Tan Thanh District. Along with 20 members of the POSCO Family in Vietnam and 3 of POSCO’s CSR team, the group also welcomed 80 Korean students as part of the POSCO Global Youth group, plus 20 Vietnamese students and 30 home construction specialists from Habitat for Humanity.

The group worked together for 5 days on construction of Tan Hoa’s new homes. All of the new houses were built under the supervision of Habitat for Humanity construction experts. Engineers were br

ought in to make sure the homes met Vietnamese construction requirements.

But for many, the physical labor involved in building a home was a new experience—especially given Vietnam’s humid climate. Heat and wind proved challenging for the volunteers, as did language barriers. Everyone was left bathed in sweat as they worked, carrying sand, gravel, and brick around the construction site and mixing cement for the bricklayers.

We interviewed one Korean student volunteer as he transported a block of bricks to the site of a new home. “It’s really hot here. But our team is working hard to make sure this house is completed before the new year, no matter how much we sweat or bleed,” he said. “The residents here are the poorest people I’ve ever seen, but they still are hospitable. They need these homes,” he added.

To the volunteers, the 72-year-old new homeowner Mrs. Xuyen expressed only gratitude. “Thank you very much for building this house for me. I will never forget the time you have spent and the help you have given my family,” she said.

Schoolhouse Rock

As the newly-laid bricks of Tan Hoa’s ten new homes settled, the volunteers moved to a different part of Tan Thanh District. This time, they set out to help out the students of Hac Dich Middle School.

The school is one of the most rundown in the area, as it has endured years of the unforgiving climate without any maintenance or upgrades. When they arrived, the volunteers split into six groups. Over two days, they carried out repairs on the school’s stairs, desks, and chairs, plus painting the windows and cleaning the school grounds.

After the hard work was complete, the volunteers gathered together with students from the school and the Youth Union of Tan Thanh District for a cultural exchange party. Celebrations came complete with traditional art, dance, and music from Korea and Vietnam.

“This is the first time I’ve met and had fun with students from another country,” said one Hac Dich Middle School student. With the enthusiasm of youth, the student added that, “I learned a lot about Korean culture and people. I will miss the volunteers. I hope to see them again someday.”

Labor of Love

For their final stop, the 100 students of the volunteer group headed south to Long Dien to visit some of the wisest residents of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

At the Long Dien District Elderly and Lonely Care Center, the hard labor of previous days wasn’t needed. Instead, volunteers delivered food and New Year’s gifts—cooking oil, milk, noodles, cookies, and other daily necessities—for the center’s Tết celebrations. With the help of the Vietnamese student volunteers, the Korean students also made conversation and spent a bit of quality time with the center’s elderly residents, most of whom are homeless.

“New Year’s Day is coming. But we are always worried about daily living conditions during Tết,” explained one of the residents. “Thanks to the presents delivered by the volunteers, we have enough food for this Tết.”

A New Start

8 days, 10 houses, 6 groups, countless desks and chairs, and one New Year’s Day later, the volunteer project is over. In a ceremony to hand over ownership of the Tan Hoa houses, some of the new homeowners are moved to tears, while others are smiling, eager to start their new lives.

For the volunteers as well, the trip has been rewarding. “It was an amazing experience with the local people. The homeowners said thank you to us, and we also want to say thank you to them,” said POSCO Global Youth student Chang Ho Bin. “We are grateful they welcomed us into their lives. We hope they have a warm and happy New Year.”

What I learned from there is how we can true communicate with each other. It was really impressive to see kids in ‘home partners’ shy at the beginning but became friendly. Difference of language was nothing. Also, I’m very glad having participated in building their shelter.

–          Minji Kim

As a student in Hochi Minh City of Technology, it was great opportunity to participate in this activity. I was a bit worried about language problem and work itself, but all the friends from Korea were very kind and careful. I really appreciate their effort and will remember

–          Phan Cam Tu

Learning foreign language and culture is much more than merely understanding the words spoken in another language. Especially for employees working in mutinational companies or overseas branches, an employee first has to begin understanding the language and cultural heritage of the counterpart for being able to appreciate their behavioral patterns. It helps in the betterment of inter-personal relationship at office.

Taking this mindset forward, POSCO-India organized a Basic Korean Language and Culture learning class for Indian Employees at its Bhubaneswar Office in the State of Odisha, India, where POSCO has proposed to set up a 12 MTPA Integrated Steel Plant.

The class was organized as directed by the Chief Managing Director (CMD) of POSCO-India Mr. Yong- Won Yoon, with the purpose of teaching the Indian employees about Korean culture and basic Korean language. The duration of the class was 2 months starting from Oct-Dec 2013, and it was held twice a week (1 hour each day) during working hours at office premises. Most interestingly, it was taught by an Indian Employee Ms.Aradhana Supakar (Assistant Manager-Planning Division), who has experience of living in Korea for 5 years and also has worked at POSCO Seoul HQ. This initiative has been quite appreciated by the management as well as other employees.

India is well known for its long history, diversity and rich cultural heritage. And, Indian people have an attitude of welcoming and embracing new language and culture very easily. The Korean Language class for Indian employees was a good approach to increase the employee’s sensitivities and creating a sense of respect to the values and practices of Korean culture apart from learning the Korean language. Further, learning foreign language from an Indian national was quite interesting for the Indian employees, as it allowed them to learn and understand the Korean culture through comparing the same with Indian culture and language.

Looking at the remarkable positive reception of this class, POSCO-India looks forward to carry on such cross-cultural activities in future as well.

Ms. Võ Thị Hồng Vân is one of the female managers at POSCO Vietnam. She is active and devoted to her work without losing her bright face. Currently, every CSR activities conducted by POSCO Vietnam are managed by her. She restlessly visits many regions where POSCO Vietnam can give a helping hand. Once she finds out where to, and what to, do for socially neglected people, she discusses the matter with local authorities and undertakes surveys to actualize feasible CSR plans for volunteering activities.

How It All Began…

When we asked how she first started working at POSCO Vietnam, Ms. Võ Thị Hồng Vân said it was almost like a destined path. “Working for POSCO Vietnam began as a coincidence and now it has become my destiny. In the beginning of 2008, I was working in Korea and I heard that POSCO Vietnam was recruiting secretaries. I was quite busy then so I couldn’t think of anything else than my tasks.” A year later, she finally joined POSCO Vietnam and started working as General Director’s secretary. “Over the two years I worked at the position, I had opportunities to develop my relationships with decision makers and top-level officers at Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, where POSCO Vietnam is located.”

It was later that she transferred from General Director’s office to Logistics Department as an assistant of General Manager. “I always love to have new experiences and this is why I was transferred. In my opinion, changing work position is a way to have new opportunities and challenges to learn new things and to study new knowledge.”

She added, “I loved the work at Marketing Logistics Department because I learned about trading and business, which I could also leverage with my experience from Korea. It helped my ability to coop with the works I was assigned to.” After a brief period, Ms. Võ Thị Hồng Vân was named as CSR Team Manager and moved to where she belongs now, POSCO Vietnam’s External Relations Department.

Becoming POSCO Vietnam’s CSR Team Manager

‘Hello, POSCO’ asked how working for the company’s CSR activities differs from her past work experiences. She smiled and said, “Regarding CSR activities, it was a big work and a new area to our company. CSR activity is not simply a concept but also needs to be carried out to give positive impacts on our surroundings, customers, partners, employees and communities. Therefore, this work needs specialized knowledge of all fields.”

We asked more questions about the quality one needs to become a professional CSR manager. Ms. Võ Thị Hồng Vân replied, “If you have a narrow set of experiences and knowledge for CSR, this work can be a challenging one. To fulfill all the roles required in this department, you need to study more about CSR, and master the principles and strategies of POSCO. This can help us to brainstorm how to engage the current social demands we face. If you succeed in meeting the demands, the result will naturally lead into building up a good image of POSCO Vietnam amid local communities.”

Awareness and Social Responsibility POSCO Vietnam Holds For Local Community

POSCO Vietnam is keeping its pace up to meet more economically and socially challenged people in local communities. “The principle of POSCO Vietnam is ‘Always Cooperate and Grow with Local Community – Business Go with CSR Activity.’ For the past few years, POSCO Vietnam has actively been implementing a wide range of social activities. This includes granting scholarships to the poor students who cannot afford their school fees and building houses with love for the households who have no shelters.”

“We also collected garbage at the beach to protect the environment and gave supports for the senior citizens, physically challenged people and children without parents. These CSR activities are all undertaken to contribute for the awareness and responsibility POSCO Vietnam conveys in the local community. The ‘POSCO Dream Village’ project is a great illustration of the purpose as well.”

Something To Be Proud Of And Worthwhile

Now, it was time to listen to her story: what she feels when working as POSCO Vietnam’s CSR Manager. “I have participated in almost all CSR activities at POSCO Vietnam since I joined. Each campaign has its own beautiful meaning, portrayed in different places and different moments. One of the beauties I witnessed was when the board members and POSCO Vietnam’s employees joined hands to collect garbage for drainage of Tan Hoa Commune.”

“It was a really hot summer day, burning everything underneath the Sun. Not to mention the awful smell we had to endure! However, the volunteers from POSCO Vietnam did not turn around. We continued our work there without losing smiles on our faces. The feeling I received at Tan Hoa Commune touched me and it is an unforgettable experience. “

Throughout the interview, we could see Ms.Võ Thị Hồng Vân’s face with full of joy and the sense of accomplishments. She truly believed that what she was doing for the local communities will open up bright future for those who received supports from POSCO Vietnam. We must say, she is not the only one counting for the change, because we all know POSCO’s global CSR activities will deliver a wonderful path for everyone around the world.

Today, as a proud member of POSCO Family and a Global Storyteller, I would like to introduce POSCO Japan’s various activities over the past few months.

Cleaning Up Arakawa Riverside

In line with the POSCO Volunteer Week in May, POSCO Japan participated in the global campaign to make the world a better place to live together. On May 25th, POSCO Japan’s employees and student volunteers visited Arakawa, a town located on the outskirt of Tokyo, to clean up the riverside.

A total of 80 volunteers gathered up from the early Saturday morning. When the roll-call was finished, we were briefed about the safety cautions and how the day’s cleaning session would go ahead, as the site was right next to the river.

Three bin bags in different colors and a list were given to each of us to find out what kind of trashes were collected from the River Arakawa. This would be useful for us and the local community later on to figure out ways to prevent the riverside from further pollution.

It did not take long before we found all sorts of trashes around the River Arakawa. We splited into groups and each group took charge of different sections to clean up the area more efficiently. It was not an easy task at first, but soon, smiles flowed amid the POSCO volunteers’ faces as we realized what we were doing would beautify the environment.

Streets of Ginza Receive Cares From POSCO Japan

POSCO Japan is also engaging with local community to save the environment. On every Thursday, a number of POSCO Japan employees gathered up to take care of the flowerbeds near the POSCO Japan’s office in Ginza, Tokyo.

I also participate in this volunteer work regularly. After planting flowers and cleaning up the street corners, the place looks much livelier than before. After we completed planting the flowers and cleaning up the street corner, the place looked so much livelier than before.

Japanese and Korean Employees Celebrating the Beginning of Hot Summer Together

As the hot summer is starting to set in, POSCO Japan held a small event at our office to celebrate Korea’s ‘Chobok Day’ on July 12th. According to the lunar calendar, Chobok Day indicates the beginning of hot summer and Koreans eat certain cuisine, such as stuffed chicken soup or fresh fruits, which is regarded to be good for health, especially in summer.. We decided to eat the watermelons from Kumamoto area, which is famous for its great taste in Japan.

In Japan, we also have a similar day called ‘Doyo No Ushi No Hi,’ so it was not that unfamiliar concept for us. Also, it was quite amuzing to learn about the similar traditions we shared between Japan and Korea. All the members working at POSCO Japan joined the watermelon party and had a great, fun time together.

As we have both Japanese and Korean employees here in POSCO Japan, we get to experience each other’s culture and share thoughts. For me, it is a precious opportunity to learn more about Korea. POSCO Japan will continue having various activities for the local communities and will keep tightening the bonds amonst coworkers. And I will also update you with more special stories of POSCO Japan, here at Hello, POSCO.

As a part of ‘Habitat Vietnam’ project, the houses were built over the past two months by the volunteers from POSCO Vietnam, the experienced participants from Habitat Vietnam and the students who were granted with POSCO’s scholarship in Vietnam.

Houses with Love Deliver Shelters for Many Locals

Tran Minh, one of the local residents who can now live in the houses built by POSCO expressed his gratitude. “I am really happy to receive such a beautiful house. From now, I don’t need to worry about rain or flood any more. This will be a happy home and I would like to send POSCO a deep gratitude. This will change my life completely.”

POSCO SS VINA’s General Director, Ryu Ju-yeol also shared his overwhelming feelings during the ceremony. He said, “POSCO has always been proud to support local communities, as we did in Gwangyang and Pohang. For our overseas operations, POSCO also puts its best effort for the community development.” “I hope that the lives of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province residents get better via this house-building project,” he added.

Launching IT Room For Tan Hoa Commune

POSCO Vietnam also launched an IT room to provide job trainings for socially neglected residents at Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province’s Tan Hoa Commune. POSCO sponsored eleven computers and other necessary equipment for the facility in order to train IT skills for the locals.

Upon the launch, Manager of POSCO Volunteers, Yang Weon-jun said “I would like to thank POSCO volunteers for all the effort they have put to make this project come true. This IT facility will help the local residents to earn their own livings with the knowledge from the trainings they will receive here.” The IT room will be managed by Kim Kwang-seok, a general manager of representative office of POSCO ICT in HCMC, Park Yong-nam, a deputy general manager of POSCO ICT and other POSCO employees.

Bringing the sharing culture of POSCO to Vietnamese Students

25 POSCO Scholarship students from the Vietnam National University of HCMC (VNU) and University of Da Lat participated in this project and they played a major role in building love-houses at Tan Hoa Commune.

When I asked Phan Nguyen Vu, a 3rd year student from VNU, about his participation in the project, he told me, “I am not used to the voluntary activities in Vietnam. I think it’s very interesting to take part in and to find the profound meanings of this activity.” He also said he would like to thank POSCO for giving him a chance to be part of the heart-warming project.

In the near future, POSCO Vietnam will organize more volunteer campaigns with the local Vietnamese students in various areas. I will keep tracking POSCO’s humane supports for Vietnam and also share the moments with you at ‘Hello, POSCO.’

For a Better World

With a slogan “For a Better World,” POSCO Vietnam visited Ho Chi Minh City and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. In Ho Chi Minh City’s Binh Tan District, Marketing Division of POSCO-Vietnam paid a visit and delivered food for around 120 the disabled, poor and homeless people.

A group of 34 POSCO volunteers gathered at the Elderly and Lonely Caring Center of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province’s Long Dien District, a home of the happy house for 105 homeless old people. Understanding the difficulties of the elderly at the center, POSCO volunteers cleaned the facility for a fresher and cleaner environment. They also held a small session to guide them on how to maintain daily hygiene. After the housekeeping, our volunteers served fresh and nutritious food for the elderly living in the facility as well as presenting gifts. It was a truly heartwarming scene as both POSCO employees and the people in the house sincerely expressed their happiness for the activity.

Cleaning up the lovely beach of Vung Tau

While they were working for the happy house in Long Dien District, another group of POSCO Vietnam volunteers took the responsibility of collecting the waste at Vung Tau beach. The beach is well-known for its fine sand seaside, longer than 10 kilometers. The lovely tourist attraction is always filled with excitement and busy with local and foreign visitors.

Although the hot summer of Vietnam was boiling hot on the day, 40 volunteers from POSCO Vietnam still went along to the place and actively picked up all the waste left by tourists. POSCO Vietnam’s employee, Ms. Hanh said, “This is the first time I participate in POSCO Family Volunteer Week. Although it was really sunny and hot, we still went for the cleaning up process along the beach to protect the environment. I would like to help and share more with the poor and needed people. I am really happy that I was a part of this initiative.” Mr. Lee Kwang Yung, General Director of POSCO Vietnam, who also took his part in the voluntary work told us, “POSCO Vietnam and POSCO SS Vina will offer more social activities for community development and make our efforts to implement successfully to our CSR activities for diverse local communities.”

POSCO Vietnam will continue marching on across the country with good wills

During ‘POSCO Global Volunteer Week,’ POSCO Family in Vietnam also visited An Lac Orphanage of Dong Nai province, Hai Duong Social Patronize Centre in Hai Duong Province and Dong Nai Province’s Nhon Trach Industrial zone to clean up, take care of babies and children, offer daily hygiene equipment and repair run-down facilities for the locals’ health and safety.

I heard POSCO Vietnam will kick off a new scheme called ‘Dream Village Project’ in this year. By joining in ‘Beyond Vietnam’ and ‘Habitat Vietnam’ projects in July and December, POSCO Vietnam will build a total of 24 houses for the poor and socially neglected people at Tan Hoa Commune and Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province’s Tan Thanh district. We will also establish the Tan Hoa Public Education Center for local students so they can have easy access to the IT training classes and scholarship. When these are done, ‘Hello, POSCO’ will be the first place I will write to so our global readers can be updated with POSCO Vietnam’s latest achievements.

Meeting with Female Leader in POSCO IDPC

I had a great privilege to interview Ms. Yu-ran Seo, the Managing Director of POSCO’s India Delhi Steel Processing Center (POSCO IDPC), who has effectively positioned herself alongside with other POSCO leaders. My first interaction with Ms. Seo was back in 2010, when I was working at POSCO HQ in Seoul. She was a very elegant, charming, smart and outspoken Korean lady I had ever met. After coming to India, she has perfectly balanced her work and social life here, interacting and melting with Indian culture very well. Besides, she has been very successful in achieving her goals in the world of Steel. As a global storyteller, I would like to share my candid and impressive conversation with Ms. Seo with ‘Hello, POSCO.’

Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]I[/dropcap]  joined POSCO in October 1990. I had worked in Foreign Procurement Department for the first 6 years and shifted to Export Department, where I spent most of my career. I came to settle down here in Gurgaon, India in August 2010 as a General Manager of Marketing & Sales of POSCO-IDPC. Two months ago, I was appointed to the post of Managing Director of the same company.

How is your life in India? Is it very different from Korea?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]B[/dropcap]efore coming to India, I never lived and worked overseas. So far, I have observed that India is a very dynamic country with full of opportunities. Although some of my acquaintances worry about me living abroad, I am doing really fine here. Of course it is difficult to live in somewhere as a foreigner but I don’t mind those minor inconveniences that much. I try to have fun in India and thank all the bright sides regarding more business opportunities and meeting very nice people.

What is unique about the services/products IDPC provides?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]P[/dropcap]OSCO IDPC provides a wide range of high quality steel materials in partnership with POSCO and POSCO Maharashtra. Utilizing high-end facilities like wide slitter, wide shearer, TWB and blanking machines, we supply processed steel material as well as raw steel coils. Our main customers are Marti-Suzuki, Tata Motors, Hero Motocorp., LG Electronics India and many other local OEM companies and vendors.

You have spent several years in POSCO. How has your journey been?
What lessons could you learn?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]B[/dropcap]efore joining POSCO, I never imagined that I would be working here for more than 22 years. It is really hard to put in words how wonderful the experiences were for me at POSCO. It has been a journey with many exciting moments. Also, I learned about how we should approach the concept of ‘People’ in workplaces. I personally think ‘People’ matter the most as we generate all the masterpieces as well as disasters. It may sound like clichéd but ‘Attitude’ is also very vital when working with your colleagues. These are the lessons I have learned from POSCO.

How does it feel to be a Managing Director of IDPC?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]W[/dropcap]hen I first heard the announcement, it came to me as a huge pressure and responsibility. On the other hand, I also felt happy with the fact that I can stay longer here with reliable and beloved POSCO IDPC staff. I was also excited that we could continue working together for the development of our business in line with Indian economy’s progress.

Challenge, motivation and Mantras of POSCO India’s female leader

How do you motivate yourself and stay as a successful business woman?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]I[/dropcap]n fact, I feel unfamiliar with the term ‘success’. I would rather say that I am happy to be working at where I am now, with continuous challenges, errors, frustrations and failures. Whenever I feel lost, I try to make myself resilient through reading good books or listening to inspirational music. I believe in appreciating oneself as incomplete. With such approach, you can drive yourself to learn from others and stay motivated to develop yourself.

As a female, did you experience any particular setbacks at workplace?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]T[/dropcap]here were some tough times when I was frustrated and depressed during my career in marketing field. However, I don’t think those happened because of the fact that I am a woman. I would say it was quite challenging to find the balance between work and family so as most other female Korean workers generally tackle.

POSCO encourages women empowerment and there are many young female prospects working with us. Do you have any words of wisdom for them?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]I[/dropcap]’d like to give these two Mantras, made by myself, to my fellows. That is, “Attitude is everything” and “Try to be trusty than clever.”

Yes, I totally agree with her. ‘Attitude is everything’ as it can shape our competence and career as POSCO’s future leaders. Our conversation was highly inspiring and impressive. I felt the working women in various social spectrums need to engage actively with their tasks to achieve what they want. I will be coming back to ‘Hello, POSCO’ with more news and inspiring stories from India.

In April, POSCO held ‘Tech Day’ events at the headquarters of global car manufacturers in Detroit. The events introduced POSCO’s superb global network, steel technology, and value chain. I personally visited the scenes, which was a great opportunity to witness POSCO’s competence in promoting its cutting-edge technologies and positive reactions from the clients. As one of ‘Hello, POSCO’ global storytellers, I would like to share the enthusiasm I could feel from Tech Day.

Visiting global carmakers to demonstrate POSCO’s cutting-edge technologies

From 2009 to 2012, POSCO held Tech Day events in Japan and Europe, visiting major players in car manufacturing industry. We presented our high-quality products and efficient line of production to Toyota, Honda, Renault, Nissan, Suzuki, Fiat, Mitsubishi, and Mazda.

For this year, POSCO, POSCO SS, POSCO Chemtech, POSCO AST and five automobile parts partners from Korea joined Tech Day events at development facilities of GM, Ford, and Chrysler in Detroit. POSCO displayed high functional steel, ultra high strength steel, hot press forming steel, PosM Steel, EVI & PBC-EV, Magnesium, technical services and automotive parts.

POSCO was able to deliver comprehensive presentations, introducing the world’s leading steel company’s value chain for manufacturing automotive parts. From the basic research undertaken by POSTECH to joint venture with POSCO Family affiliates, our firm partnership of manufacturing high-quality car parts was explained to the global carmakers with visual materials, parts samples and an electric vehicle body concept model.

POSCO Tech Day receives highly positive responses

I heard that POSCO had expected about 900 visitors for the three-day tour but in the end, we greeted more than 1,800 people who shared their positive reviews on our products and vigorous commitment. Notably, the guests’ interests were focused on the ‘third-generation AHSS development,’ designed for lightweight vehicles. They also praised POSCO’s unique concept models of high-intensity steel products such as GI 1500MART and 340ES.

Personally, I think the zenith of POSCO’s Tech Day events held in this year was the announcement, jointly made by POSCO, GM, and Chrysler. The three companies have agreed to hold regular engineer exchange programs to develop high-tech automotive parts. I believe the decision will be paid back with a series of great successes, putting POSCO to the next level of perfection as a leading global steel manufacturer.

Overall, I reckon the main goal of the exhibition, to display POSCO’s newly developed automotive technologies and the ways to reduce the cost for customers, was perfectly accomplished. Also, I would like to thank POSCO’s on-site staff who worked really hard for creating the commendable result. I wish to get back to ‘Hello, POSCO’ soon with more great news about POSCO’s global operations in near future.

Between 8th and 12th April, POSCO Vietnam invited 40 new employees from POSCO Vietnam, POSCO VHPC, VPS and POSCO SS-VINA for a 5 day training course. The session was designed to improve working and communication skills for the new members of POSCO.

The training course offered educational sessions on POSCO’s history, corporate core values, Korean culture, QSS activity, Information and Labor Safety regulations, communication skills and steel production process. These are all closely related to POSCO’s operations around the globe and their everyday tasks.

Lee Kwang-yung, general director of POSCO Vietnam, also participated in the training course as a lecturer, delivering an hour-long lecture for working skills and labor safety measures in working environment. During the session, he emphasized the importance of core value of POSCO and self-consciousness of the employees as the members of POSCO Family.

When the educational sessions were concluded, the participants undertook a paper examination over the knowledge they acquired from the program. Luong An Xuyen, POSCO Vietnam, and Nguyen Kim Dong of POSCO SS VINA were awarded as the most enthusiastic and excellent members for the 5-day-long event.

After the closing ceremony, all the trainees joined an outside activity, climbing up the highest mountain near the training facility. It was a great opportunity for all of us to concrete the sense of belongingness and partnership as POSCO’s new prospects.

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Interview with Luong An Xuyen,
Marketing Department, POSCO Vietnam

Q: How did you feel about the training course?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]L[/dropcap]uong An Xuyen: I felt comfortable and really liked the impression when I first attended the course. Through this training, I have learned about the history of POSCO and meaning of ‘Spirit of Facing Right’, one of POSCO’s core values. Becoming one of the best new staff members was another joy I received from participating in the event. I think it was a great opportunity for all of us to build a strong partnership. After the training, we still keep in touch with each other. The training course has truly become a driving force for me at work.

Q: As a member of POSCO, how do you see the company and its future?

[dropcap style=”1″ size=”3″]P[/dropcap]OSCO is a well-known steel manufacturer and I have a strong belief in its future. I am also proud of the marketing department I am currently working with. It is a place where my background skills can be utilized and developed. I also love the atmosphere and the people I am working with. I must say that POSCO is also a very staff-friendly corporate as the company always listens to us and provide well-equipped welfare policies, such as insurance, unemployment aid, accident insurance and support program for married or pregnant staff. It is a wonderful place to work.

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