CapitaLand Celebrates Strong Growth In Vietnam With Third CapitaLand Hope School In The Country

Mr Lim, who is also Director of CapitaLand Hope Foundation (CHF), the Group’s philanthropic arm, shared with Mr Hoang the plans to build a third CapitaLand Hope School near Hanoi, “As one of the leading foreign developers in Vietnam, CapitaLand has been growing our business in the country steadily over the years.  As we mark our 22nd year of operations in the country, we are proud to have established a presence in six localities – Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Binh Duong and Nha Trang – in the residential and serviced residence sectors.  We are committed to Vietnam for the long term; so as we grow our business here, we want to continue giving back to the community.  We currently have two CapitaLand Hope Schools in Vietnam – the CapitaLand Nang Yen Primary Hope School in Phu Tho Province, and the CapitaLand Thạnh Phuoc A Primary Hope School in Long An Province.  I am pleased to share that we plan to build our third CapitaLand Hope School in northern Vietnam, adding to a total of 27 schools across Asia currently.  These efforts are part of CapitaLand’s on-going commitment to building communities in countries where we operate.”

Building People. Building Communities.

CapitaLand organises international volunteer expeditions every year to projects that CHF supports, for our employees all over the world to participate in activities that contribute to the well-being of children in rural communities.  On 5 March 2016, over 50 CapitaLand staff volunteers and senior management embarked on a five-day volunteer expedition to CapitaLand Nang Yen Primary Hope School located in Phu Tho Province, one of the most impoverished provinces in Vietnam.

The school provides close to 200 pupils from surrounding villages with education from Grade 1 to 5, equivalent to that offered by primary schools in Singapore.  CapitaLand staff volunteers helped build more toilets and sheltered walkways to cater to the growing pupil population, cemented damaged walls, and refurbished the library with more shelves, which were filled with books gathered from the local community through a book donation drive organised by CapitaLand staff in Vietnam.  A series of educational activities, including sports sessions, art and craft workshops, and CapitaLand’s signature Little Architect Programme, were also organised for the pupils.

CapitaLand Nang Yen Primary Hope School was built in 1975, and classes were previously conducted out of makeshift classrooms made from clay and leaves.  In 2011, CHF donated VND2.2 billion to fund the construction of new school buildings and facilities, including a two-storey block with 10 classrooms, a library-cum-reading room, and upgraded equipment for outdoor activities.  CapitaLand organised an expedition to the school in 2011 to put the finishing touches to the refurbished school and to welcome the children from the surrounding villages into their new learning environment.  Since then, our local staff have regularly visited the school to better understand the needs of the students and the community. 

Since 2004, CHF has been committed to building new school facilities and enhancing existing ones to create conducive learning environments for children in rural communities.  To date, over 13,000 children have benefitted from the 27 CapitaLand Hope Schools that CHF has helped build across Vietnam and China.

In giving back to the community, CapitaLand has gone beyond donations through CHF to be a strong advocate of volunteerism.  We hope to enrich the lives of our staff by encouraging volunteerism and organising such activities for our staff to participate in, including international volunteer expeditions.  We believe such initiatives not only help the beneficiaries of the causes that our staff are involved with, but also build character and reinforce our core values of respect and community among our people.