When Thanh Thanh Cong Group (TTC) acquired the Yersin University of Dalat in the middle of last year, the group’s management made it clear that the M&A transaction was not merely a business deal. “It is part of the group’s commitment to supporting education,” said Dang Van Thanh, board chairman of the group.
For the board chairman, corporate social responsibility (CSR) is mandatory. “Any entrepreneur should make a contribution to the community and society, especially in education, as this is an area of humanity, and TTC is committed to education as it is closely associated with social issues.”
Commitment to education
“With the university now under the group’s umbrella, students of the Yersin University of Dalat will earn support from the group, as their studies will be more closely associated with the business lines of the group’s affiliates, and theoretical studies will be more aligned to practicality, especially in terms of research and development and modern technologies,” said the group’s representative.
Upon the acquisition of the university, TTC organized the “TTC Day – Building the Future” program, enabling students to approach career orientations and have opportunities for internships and employment at TTC. As part of the program, the group donated 30 scholarships worth a total of VND300 million to students of Yersin University.
Dang Huynh Anh Tuan, a board member of the group, said by engaging in education, TTC would help students meet job-ready requirements. They will have opportunities for internship and employment, not only within TTC’s ecosystem but also in enterprises that are strategic partners of the group.
With the acquisition of the university, TTC has expanded its ecosystem to six business lines, comprising agriculture, energy, real estate, industrial properties, tourism, and education, with agriculture remaining the group’s core business. TTC Group is comprised of five corporations as subsidiaries and over 120 affiliates across the country and abroad in Laos, Singapore, Cambodia, and Australia.
Supporting education, in fact, has been a key CSR activity at TTC for a while, especially its assistance to students via scholarships. The “TTC – Enhancing Success” is one of the scholarship programs initiated and maintained since 1985. In 2022, the group awarded scholarships worth VND700 million under this program, and since the program’s inception 38 years ago, TTC has made donations worth VND20 billion, mostly in scholarships and learning equipment.
In late 2022, TTC also inaugurated Dang Huynh Library in Ben Tre Province’s Mo Cay Nam District, which was developed at a cost of VND5 billion. This was the first private library in the province.
Sustainable growth
TTC has reoriented its production, especially sugarcane farming and processing, towards green and clean standards for efficiency and sustainability and reducing impacts on the environment.
In the sugar-sugarcane industry, the group has always been striving to become a high-tech agricultural business, using top-notch sustainable agricultural solutions.
Its subsidiary TTC AgriS, which holds a share of almost 50% on the domestic sugar market, has long enhanced its ESG management frame, seeking to achieve “green” standards.
At a conference on sustainable development earlier this year, Dang Huynh Uc My, vice chairwoman of TTC AgriS, said the sugar producer during five decades of operation has persistently pursued sustainable agriculture. “TTC AgriS has pioneered in the sustainable agricultural value chain in all activities, from farming management to sugar production and distribution,” she said.
According to her, the company has managed to research and apply green technology and process in all its production stages with an aim to meet international standards so as to alleviate impacts on the environment. It has built a modern wastewater treatment facility that allows the company to reuse water and save on resources.
“In farming, apart from reducing gas emissions, the company is seeking to achieve carbon neutrality towards net-zero emissions… In the sugar-sugarcane business, TTC AgriS has achieved the emission level of 0.45 kilo of CO2e per kilo of sugar produced, far lower than the FAO standard of 0.96 kilos,” Uc My said.
TTC AgriS has also prioritized using biomass energy and biofuels in its production and applied carbonation to reuse CO2 in boilers in sugar production.
TTC AgriS, currently operating sugarcane growing areas totaling 68,000 hectares in Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, and Australia’s Queensland, has set the target to launch a sugarcane-juice factory with an annual capacity of 72 million liters in the next period of 2025-2030. This factory will be a zero-discharge facility using biomass as the energy source and will process bagasse into packaging material in 2025, with the ultimate goal of achieving net-zero emissions for sustainability.
According to a representative of the parent group TTC, pursuing CSR activities not only contributes to the community but also brings about benefits for the enterprise itself, as it enhances the company’s competitiveness during the process of international integration when the ethical business has become a norm for every product turned out and traded.
