Early May, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of the government and people of Vietnam about the decision of IOC to accept Dow Chemical as a global sponsor for the Olympic movement from now till 2020.”

In the letter (full version available at www.vava.org.vn) , Anh said Dow Chemical was one of the main manufacturers of Agent Orange 80 million liters of which was sprayed by the US Army all over southern Vietnam in 10 years between 1961 and 1971.

“The most condemning thing is in spite of international public opinion, Dow Chemical keeps ignoring and refusing to compensate for victims of Agent Orange produced by the company as well as to join decontamination efforts in hot spots,” the letter read.

The Vietnamese side considers IOC’s acceptance of Dow Chemical’s sponsorship as a hasty decision and calls on the IOC to reconsider its decision as well as to take side with victims of Agent Orange in Vietnam and the world.

It also requests Dow Chemical to fulfill its obligations towards victims of Agent Orange and earmark financial resources to fix the consequences before becoming eligible for sponsoring the Games.

However, in his response, IOC Director General, Christophe De Kepper, said Dow Chemical confirms that they stopped producing Agent Orange by the end of 1969 and that Dow Chemical has supported the Olympic movement for many years and provided finance and expertise for the Games.

According to the UK’s The Guardian, Dow Chemical signed an agreement to sponsor $100 million for the IOC for ten years, starting 2010, and in 2011, they agreed to sponsor seven million pounds to Olympic London 2012.

Back to the end of February 2012, about 20,000 activists and surviving people of the Bhopal incident in 1984 filed an appeal letter to the British government to remove Dow Chemical out of the sponsors’ list for Olympic 2012.

The Bhopal disaster killed more than 15,000 people and made thousands more to suffer from illnesses and diseases.

Another campaign was also activated by thousands of athletes and NGOs around the world to call for the organizers of Olympic 2012 to end ties with Dow Chemical (http://athletesagainstdowchemical.wordpress.com/).

The website writes: “We, former and competing athletes, national team members and Olympians, do not feel that Dow Chemical embodies the spirit and humanity of the Olympic movement.”

Nguyen Van Tinh, head of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry, said: “There is a big conflict when a worldwide polluter becomes the main sponsor for a symbol of health and humanity like the Olympic.”

However, Tinh affirmed that [the objection to Dow Chemical’s sponsorship for the Games] does not mean a boycott of Olympic London 2012.

“Vietnam, India are direct victims of Dow Chemical and we have to keep fighting.

‘But this is a bilateral issue with Dow Chemical and the US and should not become a factor to influence cooperation of Vietnam with the Olympic”, said Tinh.

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