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G
amuda Land Vietnam is one of
the foreign developers which
have committed to charity
activities. Gamuda Land has
set up painting exhibitions by orphans
from the Ha Cau Orphanage in Hanoi.
Residents from Gamuda Garden have
had the opportunity to donate to the
vulnerable children.
According to Cheong Ho Kuan,
general director of Gamuda Land Vi-
etnam, sharing with community is the
aim of the company’s corporate social
responsibility.
Apart from the exhibition, Gamuda
Land has also presented rice and other
necessary foods to Ha Cau Orphanage.
Gamuda is not alone. Lotte Group
and Rosneft focus their CSR activities
on helping students to overcome their
difficulties and reach their potential.
Meanwhile, Russian oil and gas con-
glomerate Rosneft, which has recent-
ly taken over TNK Vietnam, provides
scholarship to students.
The company has provided VND2.1
billion for communities via investment
projects, with a focus on healthcare,
education and training projects. This
sum has paid for heart surgery for un-
derprivileged patients and awards for
mining and geology students to per-
form scientific research as well as pro-
vided safety helmets for children.
Lotte Group is also known for its
commitment to corporate social respon-
sibility. In 2012 and 2013 it gave schol-
arships to 46 students of six universities
in Hanoi amounting to $13,800. Since
2008, Lotte Group has offered scholar-
ships for excellent students from pres-
tigious universities in Vietnam, China,
Indonesia and Malaysia.
More than charity
In Vietnam, CSR means more than
charitable activities. For Lotte Colaris
Vietnam, a member of the Lotte Group
which is developing the Lotte Centre
Hanoi, CSR also means working safely.
The company has recently received a
certificate from the Hanoi Public Securi-
ty Department for outstanding achieve-
ments in the area of protecting national
security in 2013. CSR also means the
way they treat their workforce.
CSR also means providing a qual-
ity, safe product to consumers. Environ-
ment protection is also another factor
important to CSR. Companies must set
up effective strategies to limit their im-
pact on the natural environment.
Improving CSR
In the past the details of charity funds
were often not clear, but transparency is
a key aspect of robust CSR. In order to be
more professional, companies must set
up an investment strategy right at the
beginning. Apart from that, centres to
provide training on CSR activities should
be set up in order to maximise efficiency.
According to Professor Tran Ngoc
Them of Ho Chi Minh City’s University
of Science, Society and Humananities,
the government should set out clear
legal documentation for companies to
follow. “Only by doing this can CSR ac-
tivities become better and more profes-
sional,” he said.
The interest of companies in CSR
has been increasing. In a report named
‘Charity in Vietnam’ by Hanoi’s Asia Pa-
cific Research Centre, it was revealed
that more than 68 per cent of compa-
nies in Hanoi and 84 per cent of those
in Ho Chi Minh City are involved in CSR.
Regarding the efficiency of CSR ac-
tivities, this report pointed out that 32
per cent of companies in Hanoi and
56 per cent of those in Ho Chi Minh
City have been satisfied with their re-
sults through CSR. However, a lack of
transparency and bad communication
have led to low results from many CSR
activities.
In another report, ‘Charity contribu-
tions from enterprises and a view on
NGOs in Vietnam’, released last year,
the authors pointed of 500 enterprises
surveyed, three fourths were involved in
charitable activities. According to the re-
port, the larger scale the enterprise, the
bigger contribution they make to CSR ac-
tivities. While 96 per cent of companies
with over 500 workers have CSR goals,
only 46 per cent of companies with less
than 10 workers have a CSR policy.
In recent years, corpo-
rate social responsibility
has become more im-
portant to enterprises
in Vietnam and it is now
firmly embedded. How-
ever, more can be done
to maximise its impact
and improve efficiency,
writes
Bich Ngoc
CSR comes as standard