The programme has originated under Panasonic’s global initiative 'Light up the Future' and is also a long-awaited activity for many young Vietnamese fellows from the 'Live Green and Wellness with Gen G; campaign last year.

This time, 20 young volunteers joined with Panasonic in its corporate social responsibility activity, aiming to contribute to the local community towards realising the vision of wellness and sustainable development for Vietnam.

The activity is unique in the sense that although Panasonic has been implementing a variety of its corporate citizenship activities, ranging from education to the environment, such as the Panasonic sustainable school programme, Panasonic scholarship programme, and tree planting eco relay programme, this is for the first time the Japanese giant has organised a donation trip with participation of young people nationwide.

The ceremony was held in the province of Nam Tra My, while other activities took place in the remote corners of Tra Cang and Tra Vinh communes.

The programme enabled nearly 100 residents to receive solar lanterns directly. Meanwhile, 100 local students could enjoy many fun and meaningful activities.

Panasonic representatives and young volunteers had to cross over 170km of mountainous roads from Danang to Nam Tra My, after flying over from different parts of the country.

Marukawa Yoichi, general director of Panasonic Vietnam said, "Panasonic has always put the mission of contributing to society in all our business activities. In Vietnam, we have a strong commitment to further contribute to the wellness of Vietnamese people and the sustainable development of Vietnam in the next 50 years."

And one of our global initiatives – the project 'Light up the Future' shared the same purpose: we want to contribute to improving the living standard of local people, helping local children to have better conditions for studying, especially during nighttime.

"We understand Nam Tra My district of Quang Nam province is a special location with challenges for development due to its geographical conditions, including mountainous terrain, whereas Tra Cang and Tra Vinh are among the most disadvantaged communes with a rate of poverty households are over 60 per cent and lack of access to national grid that makes it very difficult for local people in daily life," Yoichi said. "Therefore, with this programme, we aim not only to support improving local living standards, but also follow the Vietnam government’s direction in eliminating poverty, and contribute to realising Panasonic Green Impact commitment as well as our wellness vision through renewable energy initiatives."

Panasonic Solar Lantern is an initiative of Panasonic Corporation. The product is a LED lantern introduced in 2013 with a built-in rechargeable battery to store solar energy during the day, enabling it to provide light at night and offer a clean and safe solution as a light source as well as a power source for people living in areas without electricity. The portable lantern can be used in homes and various other locations, including hospitals, schools, shops and outdoors.

By 2023, Panasonic will have donated more than 100,000 solar lanterns to off-grid areas in 30 countries in Asia and Africa. Among them, 2,832 units were contributed to communities of five provinces in Vietnam: Dien Bien, Yen Bai, Thanh Hoa, Quang Nam and Quang Ngai provinces.

Tran Van Thuong, Chairman of Tra Vinh People's Committee said, "This activity of Panasonic meant a lot to a mountainous commune like Tra Cang, where people are still struggling without access to the national electricity grid. The donated solar lanterns, will help to light up the living conditions of ethnic minorities, while bring more opportunities for children to study.”