ExxonMobil helps bring smile to Vietnamese children

“ExxonMobil invests in the communities in which we operate,” said Greg Smith, president and country manager for ExxonMobil in Vietnam where the company is currently working with PetroVietnam to develop the Ca Voi Xanh offshore natural gas resource. “We seek projects such as Operation Smile Vietnam that will have a lasting impact and make real, positive differences in the lives of individuals.”

ExxonMobil’s grant will be directed towards providing free reconstructive treatments to approximately 300 Vietnamese children come from different provinces across the country who were born with cleft lips, palates and other facial deformities through Operation Smile’s medical missions in Hanoi this year.

Operation Smile is an international children's medical charity that performs safe, effective cleft lip and cleft palate surgery, and delivers postoperative and ongoing medical therapies to children in developing countries.

This year marks the 25^th anniversary of Operation Smile in Vietnam. Since arriving to Vietnam in 1989 as a part of the normalisation process between the US and Vietnam, the group has changed the lives of over 33,000 children and young adults who suffer from severe facial deformities. While there are thousands of children currently waiting for care, over 3,000 children are still born each year with facial deformities throughout the country.

“With the assistance of its international and local partners, the US and Vietnamese government, and the business community, in 2014 we will be implementing the largest charitable medical programme in the history of Vietnam by putting 5,000 new smiles on the faces of Vietnamese children and families in just 25 days,” said Viet Nguyen, country representative of Operation Smile Vietnam and vice president of operation Smile Asia Pacific. “This would not be possible without the generous sponsorship and encouragement from partners like ExxonMobil. Their support enables our medical volunteers and staff to work harder around the clock to continue changing lives and making a difference to the community.”

As part of its community support initiatives, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Vietnam Limited has focused on supporting pediatric health programmes. Earlier this year, ExxonMobil contributed $125,000 toward a VinaCapital Foundation programme to purchase four pediatric ventilators for hospitals in central Vietnam, and has previously funded programmes to provide emergency health care training and equipment for children in critical medical situations.

Exxon Mobil Corporation is the world’s largest publicly traded international oil and gas company.  The company holds an industry-leading inventory of global oil and gas resources.

In Vietnam, ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Vietnam Limited, an affiliate of Exxon Mobil Corporation, is seeking to contribute to the country’s energy supplies by exploring for oil and gas resources. The company is currently in ongoing discussions with PetroVietnam and the Vietnamese government agencies and businesses to evaluate the feasibility of developing central Vietnam’s natural gas through the development of the Ca Voi Xanh offshore Danang.