Thailand’s SCG offers helping hand to ASEAN young people

Recipients of SCG’s generous scholarships benefit from the company’s Sharing the Dream campaign

After granting its “Sharing the Dream” scholarships to 350 students in seven south eastern provinces early this month, the group - one of the leading conglomerates in ASEAN - last week continued presenting scholarships to 50 students who respect gratefulness to their parents and have good academic records in Hanoi. The scholarship consists of VND3 million ($143) and school supplies for new academic year.

The programme is a part of SCG’s activities to celebrate its 100th anniversary celebration and further contribute to the socio-economic development of the communities where it operates.

The annual joint scholarship programme between Tuoi Tre newspaper, Youth Union and SCG began in 2007.

“It’s one of SCG’s key corporate social responsibility (CSR) programmes in ASEAN. The programme has expanded to Hanoi since 2011 to support more needy students in the north,” said Kan Trakulhoon, president & CEO of SCG. “At SCG, we believe that young people are the most important resources of any nation. Education is essential for them to develop their knowledge, ideas and values.”

The recipients this year are the best students selected from hundreds of submissions from high schools all over Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Binh Duong, Dong Nai, Binh Phuoc, Ba Ria-Vung Tau, Tay Ninh and Binh Thuan.

The campaign will also grant scholarships for previous recipients who want to enrol at university to study engineering, marketing, business administration and accountancy for the 2013-14 academic year. Each award is worth VND4 million ($190.5) and will be granted in late 2013.

More than 60 of previous recipients have studied and graduated from Ho Chi Minh City’s University of Technology, Foreign Trade University, Banking University and University of Economics.

Since the first scholarship programme in 2007, almost 2,600 scholarships worth more than VND7.8 billion ($371,428) have been granted to Vietnamese students.

In Vietnam, besides the “Sharing the Dream”, SCG has also been conducting numerous youth-oriented activities such as renovating the building of Disabled Children School in Ba Ria - Vung Tau since 2009 to provide better environment and infrastructure for students to learn and develop their skills. Since then, SCG has also hosted International Children’s Day at the school to bring them joyfulness and happiness.

In 2003, SCG joined hands with Muc Tim and Youth Union of Tan Binh district to construct SCG “Sharing the Dream” playground at Ho Chi Minh City’s Hoang Van Thu Park. The playground provides safe space for children in urban areas to well spend time with their parents and develop physically and mentally. The playground equipment is made of SCG’s plastic compound and the landscape by SCG Cement-Building Materials. The group also hosts International Children’s Day at the playground for kids from every district in Ho Chi Minh City.

Moreover, SCG hosted a climate change adaption house design competition coordinated with Habitat for Humanity Vietnam to raise awareness of environmentally friendly concept among young architects.

To prepare Vietnamese youth for ASEAN Economic Community, SCG organised the SCG Young Leadership Programme for high school students to equip leadership and soft skill for them. Besides, the group also initiated SCG Internship Programmes recruiting Vietnamese university students to join and get work experiences in Thailand.

From the success of “Sharing the Dream”, SCG has also expanded the programme from Thailand to Vietnam and other regional countries, with more than 5,000 scholarships per year being granted to high school and university students in Indonesia, the Philippines, Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

Since its establishment in 1913, SCG has been committed to the sustainable development of the economy, environment, and society, with the aim of improving the living standards of every community where it operates.

“A ‘Concern for Social Responsibility’ is one of our business philosophies. We consider ourselves a corporate citizen of society. It is our obligation to contribute to better economy and living standards of the communities,” Kan said.

SCG, one of the leading conglomerates in ASEAN, now comprises three core businesses including SCG Chemicals, SCG Paper and SCG Cement-Building Materials.

SCG, beginning its regional expansion with Vietnam as its strategic hub in 1992, currently has 19 operations in the country with more than $615 million of the total assets in Vietnam and employs over 6,500 local employees.