On 27 Jul 2017, Dow Vietnam in collaboration with Vietnam Chemistry Society organized a capacity-building workshop on “Training human resources to meet the sustainable growth of chemical industry”. This Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) program is aligned with Dow’s focus on building the workforce for tomorrow. It is a hands-on educational project  deployed in Vietnam for the first time and targeting at chemistry students. The workshop is well attended by a great number of teachers and students from colleges, universities, post-graduate and undergraduate institutes, researchers and heads of researching centers and institutes, businesses and managerial experts in the industry…   

The workshop is aimed at providing universities and education institutions with an open forum to access information and manpower requirements of businesses, societies and research organizations, which would, in turn, result in the maturation of a high-quality workforce to serve industry sustainability. 

             Practical presentation "Improving undergraduate awareness of the sustainable development of chemical industry"

The workshop puts a particular focus on four pressing topics adhering to the development of a green chemistry namely: Trends and significance of sustainable development in general and a sustainable chemistry in particular; Green and responsible care chemistry; Requirements on human resources to meet the sustainable growth of Vietnam’s chemistry; Integrating sustainability, green chemistry and responsible care concepts into training and education curricula in Vietnam. A number of practical presentations and meaningful proposals to develop workforce training for a sustainable chemistry are heard at the conference, including: Centering on improving undergraduate awareness of environment protection; Incorporating green chemistry into education; Developing consistent criteria in chemical education across all universities; Boosting publicity of the role of chemical industry towards industrial development.

Mr. Tomoyuki Sasama, General Director, Dow Vietnam said: “As a leader in the chemical industry, we see contribution to the industry’s general growth as a responsibility as well as a manifestation of our commitment to be ‘A Partner in Economic Growth, A Caring Member of the Vietnamese Community’. This leads us to incorporate the pillar of ‘Training human resources to meet the sustainable growth of Vietnam’s chemical industry’ into our focus of Vietnamese STEM. We hope that the workshop success will serve as a foundation for STEM’s contribution to Dow Vietnam’s fulfilment of such a commitment, thereby boosting the sector competitive edge in a way that is both sustainable and responsible for the community.”

A great number of teachers, researchers, and leaders in the chemical industry have contributed various practical presentations

“Vietnam is under an intensive global integration, which urges economic sectors without excluding chemical industry to hunt for high-quality workforce with increasingly stricter requirements. We highly appreciate the project practicality with regard to its establishment of an open forum for enterprises and education institutions to have a shared voice in training high-quality workforce for the industry. We hope that similar workshops will be organized to further encourage the practicality of manpower training in the industry”, commented Mr. Le Quoc Khanh, President of Chemical Society of Vietnam.

Previously, from March to June 2017, with a view to enabling chemistry students to gain practical experiences as well as evoking their passion, STEM did organize 7 plant tours with the total participation of over 400 students from different universities nationwide.

STEM is one of Dow Vietnam’s numerous social programs deployed for the sake of community sustainability for the past two decades. Typical programs include sponsoring RO water filter systems in line with Ministry of Health’s standards for rural hospitals and schools; Building homes for the underprivileged across the country; Improving enterprise awareness of sustainable development and a circular economy; Scholarships for Vietnamese young talents, etc. Dow Vietnam’s contribution has been recognized by Amcham Hanoi with the prestigious CSR recognition award for two consecutive years of 2015 - 2016. Apart from social programs, Dow is providing essential inputs to many downstream and supporting industries in Vietnam. As a key partner to Vietnam’s economic growth and prosperity, Dow Vietnam always endeavours to add value to most of the country’s advanced manufacturing industries that continue to create jobs and revenues for the local economy.