Suntory Group initiates water education programme for elementary pupils in Vietnam

The initiative, taking place in Hanoi’s two suburban districts of My Duc and Thanh Oai, aims to welcome the World Water Day on March 22.

In Japanese, Mizu stands for “water” and iku stands for “education”. Mizuiku is a natural water education programme that has been successfully deployed in the home regions of Suntory natural mineral water since 2004.

After ten years of implementation, the number of programme participants reached 98,000 children and parents in Japan attending teaching class and outdoor activities.

Mizuiku is a meaningful programme that brings sustainable benefits to the society, especially to the youth, and Vietnam is the first country other than Japan having Mizuiku programme implemented by Suntory.

The project is funded by Suntory Holdings Limited (SHD) Japan and conducted by Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage (SPVB) in coordination with local authorities, schools and Live and Learn, a global non-governmental organisation (NGO) in the field of environmental education.

The prime focus of this unique hands-on programme is to educate children on the role of the water on the planet and to raise their awareness on the importance of water resources and water hygiene in their daily life so that they can lead a healthy life and water resources can be handed down to future generations.

In Vietnam, the pilot programme is aimed at involving of about 1,600 pupils and teachers from six elementary schools in Hanoi’s two suburban districts of Thanh Oai and My Duc.

Lasting one year, Mizuiku programme offers study for students as well as outdoor activities including a factory tour to one of SPVB’s plants to observe reuse, water saving activities and waste water treatment system at the factory's production lines.

Besides incorporating water education, the project also sponsors installation of water facilities or renovation of rest rooms which have been seriously degraded at these schools.

“As beverage companies, both SHD and SPVB strive to save water resources. The Mizuiku programme proves our efforts in continuing to pursue our corporate philosophy as well as contributing to the sustainable development of the community,” said Katsuyasu Kato, executive chairman of SPVB.

“We expect the programme to benefit Vietnamese elementary pupils – future protectors of country environment as it does in Japan,” Katsuyasu added.

Under the group’s value of “Sharing the profit with society”, SPVB has a strong commitment to sustainable business practices, especially on environmental protection activities such as Recycle Day, World Environment Day, World Ocean Day, and Think and Drink Campaign.

Mizuiku programme is not a project-based initiative but it is a long-term project that is closely tied to SPVB’s operation.

Founded in 1899, Suntory is a multi-national major beverage company with approximately 331 group companies, nearly 39,000 employees across Japan, the United States, Europe and Asia Pacific.