What is Vietnam POSCO Village?

On November 27th, POSCO-Vietnam and Habitat for Humanity Vietnam (HFH Vietnam) held a ceremony for an 85-house project at Tan Hoa commune, Ba Ria-Vung Tau province. The ceremony was attended by local provincial leaders of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, representatives from POSCO-Vietnam and about 100 local households. Consisting of low-income families, the households are mostly informal settlers by the river or on unclaimed lands. These groups of the underprivileged will restore hope by being helped into decent homes in the ‘Vietnam POSCO Village’.

“I am sure that local authorities and poor households are very happy since the POSCO-Vietnam has initiated as from today. This is a magnanimously deep and compassionate action of POSCO 1% Foundation. This will also encourage local authorities to implement agreements with POSCO for helping residents living under difficulties for a better life”, stated Mr. Huynh Van Danh, Vice-chairman of Tan Thanh District.

The 18-month ‘Vietnam POSCO Village’ project will be implemented in two phases. Initially, phase 1 (from September 2014 to June 2015) will provide 45 low-income households with safe and adequate housing with water and sanitation facilities while phase 2 (from July 2015 to February 2016) will support another 40 households.

“This is the most beautiful moment in my life because I am going to live in the house that I have wished for a long time; no one has supported me until POSCO.  Other poor households and my family are deeply grateful to POSCO for funding and constructing these houses for us. I promise I will teach my children to have a better awareness that POSCO had helped us, and we need to work hard to lead a better life to thank POSCO”, said in tears, elderly Pham Van Phuong, 83, one of the family members funded by POSCO.

What to Expect for the Future

“With the aim to increase the living standard of low income households, this project partnership will achieve the dream of a decent home to those without proper shelter. With the generous funding provided by Global POSCO, HFH Vietnam will oversee the construction and provide valuable construction technical advices.” said Ms. Kelly, Director of Habitat for Humanity Vietnam.

When the ‘Vietnam POSCO Village’ project is completed and comes to operation, the underprivileged families at Tan Hoa Commune will have stable and adequate homes for staying in and the homes are also bases for them to build a happy family, earn for living and have a better life for their children in future.

“I hope that this project will bring a home of their own to the local poor people. Just as the proverb, “Stable home, stable business”, I hope the project will support and enable them to rise and overcome difficulties. So that they can shape a life of adequateness, comfort and happiness”, said Mr. Yun Yang Su, General Director of POSCO-Vietnam.

Other CSR Activities of POSCO-Vietnam

Not enough with only building a village, POSCO-Vietnam has been putting efforts to maximize improvements in local community’s well-being. In links below, you can learn more about POSCO-Vietnam’s steps toward cultivating the better future that were introduced in our previous posts.

(1) POSCO-Vietnam to Grant Scholarships to Local Students

In academic aspect, POSCO-Vietnam is supplying scholarships for local student 

(2) POSCO-Vietnam Shares the Holiday Joy with Local Children

In social aspect, POSCO-Vietnam celebrates Vietnamese holiday with local children.

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)