Parkson Vietnam goes green

Running from March to May 2012, the campaign incorporates a range of events and activities including: Earth Hour, Planting Day, Go Bike and No Plastic Bag Day. All of these initiatives are aimed at raising awareness and encouraging consumers to take action to protect the world in which we live.

The annual ‘Go Green’ campaign is another example of Parkson’s desire to contribute to the community and build a sustainable future for Vietnam.

“Earth Hour” will be the first event of the campaign. At the event on March 31 electronic lights at all eight Parkson centers in the country will be turned off and replaced by candles for two hours from 8:30pm.

At Parkson Landmark, District 1 and Parkson Flemington, District 11, both in Ho Chi Minh City, “Earth Hour” will kick off with a music event at 7:30pm.

Parkson has also launched a special promotion, as part of the campaign in a bid to get consumers to stop using plastic bags.  To encourage customers to start using reusable shopping bags, Parkson will not give out plastic or paper bags to customers at its outlets on Saturdays from 31st March onwards. Shoppers, however, can purchase plastic and paper bags if they wish. Profits from this initiative will be contributed to Parkson Corporation’s Environment Protection Foundation.

Tham Tuck Choy, general director of Parkson Vietnam said: “Our business philosophy is to benefit the community. Besides providing the latest fashion trends and beauty care products and services, we always focus on improving the quality of life of people in our community. ‘Go Green’ aims to raise awareness of environment protection among our employees and customers, which is an important part in our effort of contributing to the society of Vietnam.”

During its six years of operation in Vietnam, Parkson has made a major impact not just on the country’s retail landscape, but also as a key player in the community as a whole via its social programmes.  Previous initiatives have included ‘Parkson Educare’, in which 4,000 scholarships were given to underprivileged children and the ‘Christmas Presents 2011’ giveaway 2,000 gifts were presented to orphans and disabled children.

Being a leading retail group in Malaysia, Parkson has been present in Vietnam since 2005 and it now owns eight department stores in the country’s big cities such as Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Haiphong.