Shinhan Bank Vietnam: a champion for education

“Korean businesses coming to Vietnam to invest should carry warm hearts and true love to cultivate our two countries’ relations,” said Ki, the chief executive officer of Shinhan Bank Vietnam. Doing so, he added, “is beneficial to both sides.”

Shinhan Bank, a leading commercial bank in Korea with 100-year plus track record and about 18 million Korean customers, made its foray in the Vietnamese market by opening its representative office in Ho Chi Minh City back in 1993.

Shinhan Bank Vietnam has grown into a leading business entity in Vietnam. More than that, the bank left imprint on Vietnamese society through its wide ranging corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities.

“Shinhan’s core value is sharing profit, gearing towards community and social development, with education as our top priority,” said Shinhan Hanoi branch director Hwang Yung Jin.

“That is because the children are the future of Vietnam so we want them to have a bright future.”
For the past two years Shinhan has provided scholarships to studious pupils at Nam Linh Lower Secondary School in Nghe An province’s Nam Dan district. In 2012, 52 such scholarships were given to students coming from needy families to help them ease their burdens.

Nguyen Thi Tam, one of first scholarship recipients from Nam Linh commune in Nam Dan province, was happy sharing her dream to become a doctor as “many patients facing hardships like my family still need to be cured.”

Shinhan Bank’s scholarship recently enabled Nguyen Thi Tan, also in Nam Dan district’s Nam Linh commune, to continue her studies with a will to succeed amid adversity.  

Tan was one of stellar students from Nam Linh school winning Shinhan scholarships in the on-going academic year.

In 2010, Shinhan Bank entirely funded the building of Nam Linh school to replace the old dilapidated one which was built from the 1960s. Currently, 285 students study at the new school fitted with computers, printers, photocopiers and projectors with 12 spacious classrooms.

“Our school is now in a position to fully meet teachers’ and students’ requirements with active support from Shinhan Bank Vietnam. The school now meets national standards and our teachers have successfully handled e-teaching,” said the school’s headmaster Trinh Duong Thai.

In the 2011-2012 academic year, Nam Linh School was recognised at provincial level, two of its students were rated high-achieving at a provincial level and 25 others at district level, according to Thai.

In 2013 Shinhan Bank is continuing its CSR journey with diverse projects in education for underprivileged localities. Construction of a new kindergarten of more than 200sqm  is underway in Dai Dinh commune (Tam Dao district, Vinh Phuc province) with  $70,000 in funding from Shinhan.

“I am so happy as over 100 kids from one to five years old will soon have a new school to replace the current difficult learning conditions,” said Dai Dinh Commune People’s Committee deputy chairman Pham Tung Lam.

Apart from Nam Linh school or Dai Dinh commune’s kindergarten, Shinhan Bank Vietnam is expected to help more schools come into being and provide scholarships to more needy students.

Shinhan Vietnam’s Administration and Human Resources manager Lee Won Tae confirmed: “Shinhan Vietnam support covers not only Nam Linh school but other schools also to help the children. We will build decent schools not only in the north and the south where Shinhan has placed branch offices but also in areas across the country.”

After opening a representative office in Ho Chi Minh City in 1993, the bank was licenced in December 2008 to establish a wholly foreign-owned bank in Vietnam, becoming one of the first five wholly foreign-owned banks in the country.

In November 2011, Shinhan Bank merged with Shinhan Vina and changed name into Shinhan Vietnam Company Limited.

The bank’s headquarters is at 100 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai, Ward 6, District 3 in Ho Chi Minh City, with eight representative offices in diverse locations like Hanoi, Bac Ninh, Dong Nai and Binh Duong, and more than 450 employees.

Shinhan Bank Vietnam was conferred a corporate social responsibility award in 2012 by the Ministry of Planning and Investment for its active contributions to society and community development in Vietnam.