POSCO active on CSR activities in Vietnam
POSCO staff help Vietnamese students during the company’s charity housing project in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, one of the nation’s largest business clusters near the capital Ho Chi Minh City. / Courtesy of POSCO
By Jhoo Dong-chan
POSCO’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities in Vietnam have set an example for 295 foreign companies in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, one of the nation’s largest business clusters near Ho Chi Minh City.
The company has rebuilt 43 houses for low-income families in the area since 2011, and started another housing project with student volunteers in September 2014 to build 85 houses in Dun Dan in the province for people in need. The project is expected to be completed by April.
POSCO also built a steel bridge for residents in the province’s flood area, Da Bac, to secure safe travelling. The company executives and staff held the bridge’s completion ceremony with residents in the area Jan. 14.
POSCO undertook various education infrastructure businesses including building an IT education center in Dun Dan and an elementary school and kindergarten in Song Luy.
The company’s scholarship mission, the “POSCO Asia Fellowship,” has supported a total of some 600 students who now actively play important roles in the government, industries, academia and media. The scholarship program also funded various universities’ research projects and supported distinguished students to study in Korea.
In 2008, the company also participated in UNICEF’s medical aid project by building water tanks, kitchens and repairing public restrooms in five villages in northern Vietnam.
POSCO started its operations in Vietnam before Korea established diplomatic ties with the country in 1992 and is now the third largest foreign direct invested company there.
In September 2009, POSCO built a cold-rolled steel plant with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons there to feed growing demand in Southeast Asia.