Launching ceremony of the program "Mizuiku - I love clean water" in 2023

Suntory and Suntory PepsiCo are taking strong action to protect water resources through the 9th annual “Mizuiku – I Love Clean Water” program in Vietnam.

On March 20, 2023, at Kim Dong Primary School in Hanoi, Suntory Group, Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage Company Limited (Suntory PepsiCo), and the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), in coordination with the Central Youth Union, held the launching ceremony for the "Mizuiku - I Love Clean Water" program in 2023.

With its philosophy of "Sustainable Water Development," Suntory Group is committed to creating activities that promote water conservation. The Mizuiku program is an educational initiative to raise awareness of water protection, implemented by Suntory Group in Japan since 2004. Receiving strong support from the people of Japan, and with the desire to expand the program to contribute to other countries where the group operates, starting in 2015, Vietnam was officially chosen by Suntory as the first country outside Japan to expand the program, under the name "Mizuiku - I Love Clean Water."

In line with Suntory PepsiCo's sustainable development goals and commitment to contributing to the community where it operates, the "Mizuiku – I Love Clean Water" program is a key pillar in the field of "Water Resource Protection" and is also the 6th of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals of the United Nations in Vietnam. The program demonstrates Suntory PepsiCo's strong action and commitment to water resource protection and sustainable development in Vietnam. The 8-year journey of implementing the "Mizuiku – I Love Clean Water" program in Vietnam has yielded many impressive results and created a profound impact on the community, with over 2.6 million people benefiting from the program. Specifically, over 141,000 elementary school students participated in 3,728 Mizuiku classes on saving and preserving clean water, with nearly 3,924 teachers and volunteers nationwide providing instruction.

Mr. Masaaki Fujiwara, Director of Sustainable Development at Suntory Group, stated: “We are delighted to see the positive benefits that the “Mizuiku – I Love Clean Water” program has brought to the community in Vietnam. This is also a motivation for us to expand the program to many other countries around the world. In 2022, we were also very proud that the Mizuiku program in Vietnam was honored to be recognized as a commemorative program on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Japan and Vietnam. Accordingly, the program not only benefits society but also serves as a diplomatic bridge between the two countries. From 2023, I hope that with the cooperation model with the Ministry of Education and Training over the next three years, the program will be elevated to a new level, achieving even more impressive results and making an even more positive contribution to Vietnam – the country where Suntory Group operates and conducts business.”

Statement by Mr. Masaki Fujiwara, Senior Managing Director, Suntory Group

“Developing for the greater good” is the vision that both Suntory Group and Suntory PepsiCo strive for in all their production and business activities. Understanding that environmental protection and water conservation are knowledge and skills that need to be widely disseminated, especially to young children of school age, Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam marked a new milestone in the program in December 2022 by officially signing a cooperation agreement for the 2023-2025 period with the Ministry of Education and Training. With this cooperation and a fresh direction with the Ministry of Education and Training and the Central Youth Union, from 2023 onwards, the program will gradually expand its educational scope nationwide, focusing on implementing more beneficial experiential activities, contributing to spreading awareness and promoting responsible actions in saving and protecting clean water resources among students – the future generation of the country.

Attending and speaking at the signing ceremony of the cooperation program, Dr. Ngo Thi Minh - Deputy Minister of Education and Training - acknowledged and highly appreciated the impact of the "Mizuiku - I Love Clean Water" program in the past. With the positive results achieved, the program has contributed to raising awareness among primary school students about water resource protection, school health, and environmental hygiene. The Ministry of Education and Training will continue to create conditions for the effective implementation of the program, achieving the expected goals.

Statement by Deputy Minister of Education and Training Ngo Thi Minh

With a new development orientation for the 2023-2025 period, and with the co-chairing role of the Ministry of Education and Training, the co-organizing role of the Central Youth Union Council, and partners, the "Mizuiku - I Love Clean Water" program will become a typical model of comprehensive cooperation and bring many benefits to the community and the young generation of Vietnam. The program will be a strategic connection between resources for sustainable development of Suntory PepsiCo and the Suntory Group with relevant ministries and agencies, socio-political organizations, socially responsible businesses, media outlets, and individuals interested in and wishing to contribute to the program.

Accordingly, under the direction of the Ministry of Education and Training as co-chair of the program, in 2023, “Mizuiku – I Love Clean Water” was gradually expanded through: evaluating and approving the program's materials and making them teaching guides for primary school students in extracurricular programs of 100% of primary schools nationwide; promoting education through training courses for more than 5,000 teachers in 300 schools and organizing 6,000 classes for nearly 210,000 students in grades 3 and 4 in 6 provinces and cities: Lang Son, Hanoi, Da Nang, Dak Nong, Ho Chi Minh City and Vinh Long; and supporting 20 clean water projects to improve school hygiene in each locality.

In particular, within the framework of coordinated activities with the Central Youth Union Council, the program also places special emphasis on developing experiential education content for students by signing a cooperation agreement with the Forestry Department - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development for the first time. This includes organizing extracurricular activities to experience the forest and building environmental information corners in national parks, contributing to spreading awareness and affirming the role of protecting forest resources and preserving clean water sources for Vietnamese children.