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You have sponsored Swing for the
Kids since its inception. In your opin-
ion, why has it proven so popular
within the business community?
It has brought more benefits than
an annual professional golf tourna-
ment could. Through Swing for the
Kids, scores of studious children
throughout the country have had the
chance to continue studying and enjoy
better learning conditions. Through
its six tournaments to date, Swing
for the Kids has succeeded in raising
more than VND5.5 billion ($265,000),
providing over 6,000 scholarships to
needy pupils with stellar academic re-
cords. It has also supported repairs
and the construction of education fa-
cilities in 38 provinces and municipali-
ties countrywide.
These figures speak for themselves
and have made Swing for the Kids in-
creasingly well-regarded among the
corporate community. This is why, de-
spite the continuing economic hard-
ships, the tournament still enjoys huge
support from businesses.
Is that why Vingroup has always been
one of the major sponsors?
Yes. Swing for the Kids’ noble objec-
tives coincide with our group’s strategy
for sustainable development by target-
ing work for the benefit of the com-
munity. Vingroup has been there from
the outset. In the first years we acted
as a gold sponsor, then we became the
platinum sponsor as we wanted to play
a greater part in supporting community
development, particularly for Vietnam-
ese children.
What efforts have Vingroup made to
cultivate sustainable growth for com-
munity and social development?
Parallel to carrying out philanthrop-
ic activities via diverse media and social
organisations, Vingroup, through our
Kind Heart (Thien Tam) Foundation,
has come up with numerous commu-
nity oriented activities. In 2012 alone,
the foundation took part in funding
the construction of gratitude houses,
schools and health facilities, donating
calves to needy families and providing
aid to underprivileged children in high-
land areas and to needy people before
the Lunar New Year (Tet).
Besides, Vingroup partook in build-
ing Phat Tich Nursing Home for Elderly
and Young Talents (Phat Tich Centre)
to take care of lonely old people, or-
phans and other disadvantaged people
in good living conditions with well built
facilities. We also offer free training to
talented young footballers.
This is clearly already a success-
ful event, but what can be done to
grow it?
We need to scale up and be more
innovative in terms of tournament ac-
tivities to attract more golfers and gar-
ner wider support from the business
community.
We could invite golfers who have
been part of the tournament for years
to take part in scholarship donations,
thus they will become more apprecia-
tive of the event’s humanitarian values.
Vietnam Investment Review
should
print articles not only covering scholar-
ship donations, but also reflecting the
ambitions and aspirations of the stu-
dents and their parents by following
the lives of scholarship recipients, par-
ticularly those who benefit for consecu-
tive years. These actions will make the
tournament more alluring to sponsor-
ing businesses, as well as golfers who
will be proud to play a part in the bet-
terment of our society.
GOLF IN VIETNAM
Corporate giving
The seventh Swing for the
Kids charity tournament will
tee off on April 21, 2013 at the
King’s Island golf course. Ahead
of the event,
Dinh Thuy
spoke
with
Le Khac Hiep
, deputy
chairman of leading property
group and long-time main
sponsor, Vingroup
Vingroup’s Vinpearl Golf Club
in Nha Trang