Funding and innovative solutions from BASF help improve two needy schools in Hậu Giang, Vietnam

Hậu Giang, Vietnam – September 29, 2017 – BASF, the world’s leading chemical company, today inaugurated its school renovation project for a kindergarten and a primary school in a remote area of Hậu Giang Province.
 
The project, co-sponsored with a group of leading companies and facilitated by Saigon Children’s Charity CIO, has renovated a total of 5 classrooms and a 239-square meter playground, equivalent to approximately 650sqm of school space. It enables about 140 students to enjoy better learning facilities as well as improved hygiene and safety conditions.
 
The beneficiary schools include Long Thạnh 3 Primary School, a satellite site in the remote area of Long Trường 3 Hamlet, and Tân Long Kindergarten, a satellite site in Long Phụng Hamlet, both located in Phụng Hiệp, the poorest district of Hậu Giang Province.  In these districts, about 20% of the population earns less than VND400,000 (US$18) per person per month. Located approximately 240km away from Ho Chi Minh City, the schools were constructed more than 20 years ago. Prior to the renovation, the schools have become heavily run down, and inadequate to maintain children’s health and safety standards.

Toddlers from Tân Long kindergarten singing and dancing in their newly built classroom
 
Along with funding for the renovation, BASF has donated waterproofing solutions that make the building structure more durable against rains. The two schools are painted with low odor products using BASF’s ingredients, which minimizes impact to human health and the environment. The renovation project features nearly 300sqm of Tonmat polyurethane roof panels, which keep the school thermal insulated, especially in hot weather, and quiet even during heavy rains – thereby improving the study environment for schoolchildren. The panels are sponsored by Vietrust, a leading manufacturer of polyurethane roof panels in Vietnam.
 
According to UNICEF Vietnam, approximately 77% of kindergarten-age children and 13% of pre-primary school age children do not attend any formal preschool program. Insufficient classrooms and improper school conditions in many regions including the Mekong Delta are a pressing issue for the local education sector, preventing many children from attending schools.

The newly built facility of Tan Long kindergarten (far left: the heavily rundown school) 

“At BASF in Vietnam, we focus our corporate citizenship activities on providing quality education. We believe every child deserves fair access to education. Providing sufficient study facilities and a quality learning environment is important for their future success and country development,” said Tanachart Ralsiripong, Managing Director, BASF Vietnam. “By supporting this meaningful project together with partners like Vietrust, we want to help address this issue and allow more children to benefit from learning opportunities.”

Teacher Nguyen Thi Ut and her children in their new facility
 
“Supporting those in need is a long-standing tradition among Vietnamese people. We therefore want to take part in community projects to demonstrate our corporate social responsibility. We are pleased to collaborate on this renovation project to improve the facilities and learning conditions for the schools, thereby contributing to enhanced education quality in this remote area,” said Mr. Trần Văn Sơn, Managing Director, Vietrust.
 

Students from Long Thanh 3 primary school enjoying their newly set up playground facilities

Since 2015, in partnership with Saigon Children’s Charity, BASF has renovated three schools in Trà Vinh and Hậu Giang provinces, offering enhanced facilities and improved hygiene, safety conditions for about 350 students in this region. In addition, BASF has offered scholarships to nearly 20 disadvantaged university students for their four years of study. The company recently worked with the world’s leading paint manufacturer, Nippon Paint, to offer paint sponsorship that redecorated over 7,500 square meters of school space in Mekong Delta, benefiting almost 1,000 children.
 
BASF contributes to science education in Vietnam through its interactive and fun-filled experiments at BASF Kids’ Lab, in collaboration with the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education & Training. Since 2011, almost 3,000 primary students have participated in this annual event to explore the role of chemistry in daily life.

Since its establishment in 2003, Vietrust has participated in various social activities focusing on needy students and people in remote areas of Vietnam. For example, the company provided its roof panels to replace damaged roofs after natural disasters in the northern mountainous provinces of Lào Cai and Hà Giang in 2013 and 2015. It also supports the elderly and other underprivileged people in Thái Bình province, where one of its nine production plants is located.
 
Saigon Children’s Charity CIO was established in 1992. Since then, its “School Building and Learning Environment” program has built more than 450 classrooms. These have benefited thousands of students from kindergarten up to secondary school level.

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About BASF Vietnam
At BASF, we create chemistry for a sustainable future. We combine economic success with environmental protection and social responsibility. The approximately 114,000 employees in the BASF Group work on contributing to the success of our customers in nearly all sectors and almost every country in the world. Our portfolio is organized into five segments: Chemicals, Performance Products, Functional Materials & Solutions, Agricultural Solutions and Oil & Gas. BASF generated sales of more than €58 billion in 2016. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS), London (BFA) and Zurich (BAS). Further information at www.basf.com .
BASF has been active in Vietnam since the establishment of its representative office in 1994. BASF Vietnam Limited was set up in 2009 and the company operates two production sites for construction chemicals. BASF Vietnam also maintains three sales offices in Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi and Danang. It provides a wide range of products, including plastics, petrochemicals, construction chemicals, fine chemicals, performance chemicals, poaper chemicals, and crop protection. BASF sales to customers in Vietnam were approximately €245 million in 2016. BASF employed 142 people in Vietnam as of the end of 2016. Further information on BASF in Vietnam is available at www.basf.com/vn.
About Vietrust
 
Established in 2003, Vietrust today has a total of 9 production plants in Quảng Ninh, Phú Thọ, Thái Bình, Sơn La, Thanh Hoá, Nghệ An, Đà Nẵng and Bình Dương, of which the major facility is in Tiên Sơn Industrial Park, Tiên Du District, Bắc Ninh provinces. It also has a representative office at 42 Tô Hiến Thành Street, Hai Bà Trưng District, Hanoi.
 
Vietrust’s major products include Tonmat 3-layer insulated and soundproofed panel & metal roof, and Gachmat insulation board. Its Tonmat Lockvit is the only available product line in the market that provides optimum leakage resistance and weather resistance even in toughest conditions including level 12 typhoons. In fact, Vietrust was the very first company in Vietnam to produce 3-layer insulation panels and in 2015, it was the very first company to produce Gachmat insulation board. All products are made with European technology that produces zero HCFC. The company currently has nearly 300 employees. More information can be found at http://tonmat.com.vn/.
 
 
About Saigon Children’s Charity CIO
Saigon Children's Charity CIO (SCC) was founded in 1992 to help disadvantaged children in Vietnam to escape from the cycle of poverty by giving them an education and a fair start in life.
SCC takes simple, practical steps to ensure that the children most in need get an education. We build schools and provide scholarships, as well as targeted extra help and vocational training. We work in and around Ho Chi Minh City, including District 4, District 8, Tan Phu District and in the rural fringes such as Can Gio, Cu Chi and District 9. In addition, we work in rural provinces close to HCMC such as Dong Nai and Tay Ninh, several provinces of the Mekong Delta (Tien Giang, Tra Vinh, Kien Giang, Hau Giang) and have also built classrooms in Quang Tri, Phu Tho and Ninh Binh Provinces.
With more than 25 years of experience, SCC has now built and renovated more than 450 classrooms, and has supported more than 40,000 children and young people with scholarships and vocational training.
A board of independent trustees is accountable for the work of the organisation and SCC publishes audited accounts annually with grateful thanks to KPMG. We aim always to be a high quality organisation, which is both transparent and fully accountable.
To find out more about SCC, please visit www.saigonchildren.com, call us on (84 8) 3930 3502 or email us at scc@saigonchildren.com .
 
Media contacts
 
BASF   VietnamSaigon Children’s Charity CIOVietrust JSC
 
Do Kim ChungNguyen Le Yeu ThuongNguyen Thuy Linh
 
Phone:  +(84 8) 3824 3833Phone: +(84 8) 3930 3502Phone: +(84 24) 39743794 /96
 
Mobile: +(84 9) 38 945 288Mobile: +(84 9)977843701Mobile: +(84 9) 04401102
kimchung.do@basf.comthuong@saigonchildren.comnguyenthuylinh@tonmat.com.vn