The Saigon Times Foundation, or STF, inaugurated last Friday its Central Vietnam Project in the central city of Danang.
STF Inaugurates Central Vietnam Program
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| Mr. Luu Trang, vice president of Danang University of Education, hands scholarships to students |
The Saigon Times Foundation, or STF, inaugurated last Friday its Central Vietnam Project in the central city of Danang.
Co-hosted by STF and the Danang University of Technology, the inauguration of the Central Vietnam Project is part of the interest-free study loan program, being one among a chain of events held to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the foundation.
At the launch of the program, the first 30 students from the Danang University of Technology received study loans worth VND5 million each, equivalent to the study fees for a school year.
The Central Vietnam Program has an initial fund of VND300 million, of which VND200 million is from the Saigon Times Group’s Saigon Times Concert, and VND100 million from the life insurer Prudential Vietnam.
The program aims at providing needy students with rotary student loans which can help them complete their university curricula. After graduation, the borrowers have to refund loans which will be offered to those in need.
The Central Vietnam Program is a spin-off from the successful “Interest-free Student Loan Program” initiated by STF in the Mekong Delta which has received a fund worth VND4 billion from Van Phat Hung Joint Stock Co. Since 2009, almost 1,000 students from higher education institutions in the delta have been granted such loans.
During the inauguration ceremony in Danang, KFC Vietnam donated 60 scholarships under the STF-KFC Long-term Scholarship Program, each of which is worth VND3.5 million. Also, ACB handed 19 scholarships, worth VND2.5 million each, under the STF-ACB Long-term Scholarship Program.
The audience at the ceremony was thrilled by the performances of the Singing Businesspeople Club whose members are leaders from companies in HCMC such as TTT, SOCO, MPU and V-Home Group. Aside from famous songs, the performers also shared with students their recruitment experience and expertise in acquiring soft skills.
STF is a non-profit organization set up by the Saigon Times Group and its close business readers in February 2002 to support education and training in Vietnam.