Young Vietnamese Join Panasonic Vietnam to Light Up Nam Tra My District

Quang Nam, Vietnam – August 9, 2023 – Panasonic Vietnam implemented its Solar Lantern Donation Program for the fourth time in Vietnam to grant 330 solar lanterns in Nam Tra My district, Quang Nam province. The program originated under Panasonic’s global initiative LIGHT UP THE FUTURE and is also a long-awaited activity for many young Vietnamese fellows from last year’s Live Green and Wellness with Gen G campaign. This time, 20 young volunteers joined with Panasonic Vietnam in its CSR, aiming to contribute to local communities and achieve the vision of wellness and sustainable development for Vietnam.

Over the years, the Panasonic Group has been implementing a variety of its corporate citizenship activities in Vietnam, ranging from a Panasonic sustainable school program, a Panasonic scholarship program, a tree planting eco relay program, and more. But this donation program was the first time that the Japanese giant organized a donation trip with the participation of young people across Vietnam.

The ceremony was held in the province of Nam Tra My, while other contributions to local communities took place in even more remote corners of the Tra Cang and Tra Vinh communes, which enabled nearly 100 local residents to receive solar lanterns directly in the field and 100 local students to enjoy many fun and meaningful activities relating to environmental topics. In order to accomplish this, Panasonic representatives and young volunteers had to cross over 170 km of mountainous roads from Da Nang to Nam Tra My after flying over from different parts of the country, including Hanoi, HCMC, Hue, Binh Dinh, and Khanh Hoa.

Mr. Marukawa Yoichi, General Director of Panasonic Vietnam says, “Panasonic has always put the mission of contributing to society in all our business activities. In Vietnam, we have a strong commitment to further contribute to the Wellness of Vietnamese people and sustainable development of Vietnam in the next 50 years. And one of our global initiatives—the project of ‘LIGHT UP THE FUTURE’ shared the same purpose: we want to contribute to improving the living standard of local people, helping local children to have better conditions for studying, especially during nighttime.”

Nam Tra My district of Quang Nam province is a special location with challenges for development due to its geographical conditions, like its mountainous terrain, whereas Tra Cang and Tra Vinh are among the most disadvantaged communes with households having a rate of poverty over 60% and a lack of access to the national electricity grid, which makes daily life very difficult for the local people. With this program, Panasonic Vietnam aimed to not only support improving local living standards, but to also follow the Vietnamese Government’s direction in reducing poverty, and to contribute to realizing Panasonic GREEN IMPACT’s commitment as well as our wellness vision through renewable energy initiatives. By participating in this meaningful program, the company believes that young enthusiastic Gen Green ambassadors will be given the chance to develop themselves and make possible their further aspirations to contribute to society.

LIGHT UP THE FUTURE is one of the global CSR initiatives led by Panasonic Holdings. The product is a LED lantern introduced in 2013 with a built-in rechargeable battery that stores solar energy during the day, enabling it to provide light at night and offer a clean and safe solution as a light source as well as a power source for people living in areas without electricity. The portable lantern can be used in homes and various other locations including hospitals, schools, shops, and outdoors. By 2023, Panasonic had donated more than 100,000 solar lanterns to people in off-grid areas in 30 countries in Asia and Africa. Of these, 2,832 units were contributed to the communities of five provinces in Vietnam including Dien Bien, Yen Bai, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam, and Quang Ngai provinces.

Mr. Tran Van Thuong – Chairman of the Tra Vinh Commune People’s Committee shared: “This activity of Panasonic Vietnam meant a lot to a mountainous commune like Tra Cang, where people are still struggling without access to the national electricity grid. The solar lanterns they donated will help to light up the living conditions of ethnic minorities while bringing more opportunities for children to study.”

In implementing this program, Panasonic Vietnam was accompanied by the Frogsleap Foundation, an NGO that has extensive experience in engaging young volunteers as well as bringing solar power projects to remote areas.

Participating in the ceremony, Ms. Ton Nu Thuc Quyen, who is leading a project named Eco Station that aims to raise awareness of ecological protection in the Son Tra Peninsula, shared: “Panasonic Vietnam’s activities for Gen G over the years have created a memorable journey, and this solar lantern donation program is an opportunity for us to directly contribute to remote communities and spread the message of environmental protection.”

The 2023 solar lantern donation project is one of the latest efforts by Panasonic Vietnam in its journey of realizing its 50-year wellness vision and Panasonic GREEN IMPACT declaration. Earlier this year, the company completed a tree planting program in Thanh Hoa with the participation of nearly 100 Panasonic employees. After this large-scale project of tree planting in 13 provinces across Vietnam with active participation from its customers and business partner, Live Wellness, Contribute Green, adding up to a record-high of more than 360,000 trees planted in forests in less than one year.

“Live Green and Wellness with Gen G” is a community campaign initiated by Panasonic Vietnam in early 2023, in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and NGOs that aims to inspire and motivate the active participation of young Vietnamese people in pioneering green, healthy, and environmentally friendly lifestyles. This campaign is a part of the realization of Panasonic GREEN IMPACT, the company’s global commitment to global warming prevention, with the declared goal of neutralizing the CO₂ emissions of all its member companies, and reducing CO₂ emissions by 300 million tons throughout its value chain by 2050, equivalent to 1% of global CO₂ emissions today, while contributing to achieving the net zero direction by 2050 as set by the government of Vietnam.

The campaign has introduced a series of interesting and diverse activities both online and offline, and attracted the participation of many young people across the country while inspiring them to become a part of Gen G—a new concept of the Pioneer Generation in green lifestyles.