VIETNAM, August 6 -  

THÁI BÌNH — HCM Communist Youth Union (HCYU) and Saigon Beer-Alcohol-Beverage Corporation (SABECO) proudly marked the completion of the first phase of their “Fostering Sports” and “Light Up The Rural” projects.

In addition, they announced their cooperation programmes for 2023, marking a successful milestone in their 3-year strategic partnership from 2022 to 2024.

In May 2022, recognising the importance of community development is in line with Việt Nam’s national target of sustainable development, HCYU and SABECO signed a strategic 3-year cooperation agreement, focusing on the main areas, including national development activities, cultural preservation, healthy lifestyle advocacy and sustainable development.

Over the past 1.5 years, HCYU and SABECO has successfully partnered in more than nine projects, varying in scale and impact across the nation. Notably, "Light Up the Rural" and "Fostering Sports" projects emerged as pivotal initiatives that laid a solid foundation for the forthcoming second phase. The next stage will witness greater diversity and scale, where the projects aim to also invite contributions from local partners and communities in each province to join hands where the projects will be implemented. This will generate bigger positive impacts and value on the community, which will further augment Việt Nam’s socio-economic development.

Ngô Văn Cương, secretary of HCYU’s Central Committee, said: “HCYU and SABECO have shown their initiative and close collaboration in the process of implementing the practical, meaningful contents and activities in various fields, creating positive effects in youth union members, young people and the whole society. We hope that there will be meaningful programmes and activities to continue to promote the strengths of both sides, towards the common goals for a sustainable development of Việt Nam.”

Bennett Neo, general director of SABECO, said: “Both initiatives are set to enhance the socio-economic infrastructure of rural areas and bring values to surrounding communities, in line with our Việt Nam National Strategy of Green Growth and National Target Programme for New-Style Rural Area Development. I would like to personally thank everyone who is involved with these projects for their support and commitment, including the local authorities for your facilitation to make these projects happen. Recognising the significant impact of these projects, together with HCYU we are delighted to announce the extension of these initiatives into Phase 2. We recognise this as our commitment and duty as a leading Vietnamese company, as part of our sustainable development strategy focusing on four key pillars: Consumption, Conservation, Country and Culture, with the aim to bring out the best of Việt Nam. We look forward to working hand-in-hand with HCYU to further contribute to the socio-economic development of Việt Nam."

Light Up The Rural in a sustainable way

“Light Up The Rural”, one of the major projects initiated in July 2022, seeks to bolster Việt Nam’s green growth target (2021-2023), as well support the national target programme on new-style rural area development (2021-25).

During its first phase, the project successfully installed 34 kilometres of solar-powered streetlights, significantly enhancing the socio-economic infrastructure of rural areas across 34 provinces. Over 210,000 households benefited from improved safety and livelihoods, alongside countless indirect beneficiaries.

Looking ahead, the project aims to implement an additional 39 kilometres of solar-powered streetlights across 29 provinces. This includes 10 kilometres of solar-powered streetlights which will illuminate community sports playgrounds in 10 provinces as part of the “Fostering Sports”. To drive environmental awareness, HCYU and SABECO will also launch a contest, “Creative ideas for Energy Saving and Green Energy Usage”, encouraging creative solution ideas on how to use energy wisely, safely, and effectively from the youth community nationwide. The most outstanding ideas from the contest will be considered for implementation in future environmental projects in 2024.

Fostering sports for a positive lifestyle

The ‘Fostering Sports’ project aims to cultivate sportsmanship and promote healthy lifestyles among the communities. The project commits to upgrade 30 community sports playgrounds across 30 provinces from 2022 to 2024. As of August 2023, the project has already completed 10 playgrounds which have been handed over to provinces: Thái Bình, Khánh Hòa, Bắc Giang, Bình Định, Tuyên Quang, Đắk Lắk, Sóc Trăng, Đồng Tháp, Thanh Hóa, and Nghệ An. As part of the completion achieved in 2022, HCYU and Bia Saigon have also organised Bia Saigon Cup Youth Football Tournament 2023 with the participation of 10 football teams from 10 provinces where Fostering Sports implemented to welcome the upgraded sport playground in Thái Bình.

Development and empowerment for young entrepreneurs

The partnership between HCYU and SABECO also focuses on empowering and supporting young entrepreneurs in rural areas through coaching and mentoring programmes.

Lương Định Của Award, a prestigious award initiated by HCYU since 2006 to honour talented young individuals excelling in doing business in rural areas, has enjoyed SABECO’s support since 2022.

In 2023, SABECO will continue a series of coaching and mentoring programmes with HCYU in Hà Nam, Khánh Hòa and Cần Thơ provinces, imparting practical knowledge about entrepreneurship and digital transformation to more than 300 young talents. By doing so, the partnership aims to enhance their competitiveness and contribution to local economic development. These programmes also provide valuable networking opportunities for new startups to explore cooperation prospects and growth possibilities. VNS