Shigeaki Kazama, executive officer and division deputy COO at Sustainability Management Division under Suntory Group, talked about the steps the company is going to take toward its sustainable commitment.

The “Mizuiku - I love clean water” program has been carried out in Japan since 2004. Could you share more details about it?

Shigeaki Kazama: As a multinational beverage company with water being the main ingredient in all our products, we believe that water is a precious resource that needs to be conserved.

Suntory Group, along with our commitment to contribute to the community and based on Suntory’s “Sustainable water Philosophy,” teaches the importance of protecting the environment, conserving clean water, as well as the necessity of raising community awareness, especially among children, regarding the protection of water resources.

Deployed in Japan in 2004, the Mizuiku program is an initiative about nature and water conservation designed with educational purposes, specifically for the young generation.

With the desire to carry more activities to support water conservation, the programme "Mizuiku – I love clean water" has been implemented in Vietnam since 2015.

The Japanese Mizuiku programme launched the on-line programme for “Teaching Programme at Schools” and “Outdoor Programme for Forest and Water” in 2020 and marked the aggregated participants of 200,000 in August 2021.

Why did Suntory Group decide to implement the program in Vietnam as the first country outside Japan?

Since joining, Vietnam has been identified as a key market of Suntory Group. When establishing the strategic alliance of Suntory PepsiCo between Suntory Group (Japan) and PepsiCo Corporation (USA) in Vietnam, our mission was not only to bring quality products to consumers but also to contribute to the Vietnamese community. Sustainable development in Vietnam is a key element that we always prioritise to develop our business and affirm our position in the market.

The Suntory Group's business is supported by precious global resources such as water and agricultural products. We clearly understand that maintainIng sustainable water is the most important thing in our business.

Along with the effective cooperation between Suntory PepsiCo and partners, we have been carrying out many educational and water conservation activities. We strongly believe that the Mizuiku program will be successfully implemented, and bring a lot of value to the community, helping to build a generation of young Vietnamese living responsibly for the protection of water resources and the environment.

After several years spreading several water resources educational activities and improving the quality of clean water projects in primary schools, from 2023 to 2025, We are honoured to introduce the cooperation between Suntory PepsiCo and the Ministry of Education and Training to expand the programme nationwide, mark the new milestone of the programme and reaching more students from all parts of the country, creating even more positive influences in Vietnamese society.

Moreover, Vietnam is the first country that we chose to implement the programme outside Japan, and the success of "Mizuiku – I love clean water" in Vietnam will be a premise for promoting the project in other countries around the world, thereby realizing the vision of "Growing for Good" that both Suntory Group and Suntory PepsiCo are aiming for in all production and business activities.

What achievements the “Mizuiku - I love clean water” program in Vietnam has obtained so far?

We are happy that the program "Mizuiku - I love clean water" has received great support from the community and made a strong impact in Vietnam.

The program has benefited more than 2.6 million Vietnamese people across the country. Particularly, more than 140,000 elementary school students participated in water conservation training courses, and 4,263 Mizuiku classes on water resources education were widely disseminated by 7,464 teachers and volunteers.

The program also contributes to building and improving quality for more than 131 clean water systems and toilet facilities in primary schools. With the sustainability commitment, Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam will develop the scale of the programme to increase water protection’s awareness to more students nationwide.

What do you think about the Memorandum of Understanding between Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam and the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training?

With the cooperation between the Ministry of Education and Training (MoET) and Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam, in 2023 - 2025, the program "Mizuiku - I love clean water" will escalate to a new level, starting from the nationwide programme scale-up.

I believe that with the MoET companionship, the program will bring more meaningful activities to the community as well as bring more suitable activities tailor-made for the young generation, providing better school health service, improving pupil’s physical health, and bringing opportunities to access clean water to students and the community.

We hope the program can positively influence Vietnamese society through educational initiatives aimed at the young generation.

What is the Suntory Group plan for impelementing the Mizuiku program in other countries?

I am very grateful to see that the program “Mizuiku- I love clean water” has been well-received by society over the years.

Thanks to the success of the program in Vietnam, we also have more motivation and confidence to expand it to other countries, such as Thailand, China, Indonesia, France, and Spain.

We see Vietnam as a model, so that we have applied outstanding initiatives in Vietnam to other countries, and it really has a certain impact on sustainable development. Seeing the program is widely accepted, it helps me ensure that the programme will continue to create more impact on the community.

What is the upcoming target of the program?

Suntory Group understands that water and environment protection is an urgent issue that needs to be understood more widely. For Vietnam, we hope to receive the support and cooperation of our partners and the community so that the "Mizuiku – I love clean water" program can reach more students nationwide.

Considering the future, we established a revised version of the Suntory Group's Environmental Principles to aim to become net water positive by using water carefully and localizing water stewardship to contribute to nature’s healthy water cycle.

With our sustainability commitment, we hope to contribute more benefits to society, as well as Suntory Group's vision "Growing for Good."

Not only limited to Vietnam, we also want to bring the Mizuiku program globally to affirm our commitment to contribute back to society, creating harmony with people and nature. That's how we show our gratitude.

PV