Hanoi, June 12, 2015 - The Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) collaborated with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the General Department of Sports to discuss the establishment of Anh Vien young swimming talents foundation. The objective is to motivate Vietnamese young talents in the field of swimming. BIDV and its staff contributed VND500 million to the foundation. Mr. Le Khanh Hai, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Mr. Vuong Bich Thang, Director of Sports; and Mr. Tran Bac Ha, Chairman of BIDV attended the event.

At SEA Games 28 in Singapore, Vietnam’s No.1 female swimmer Nguyen Thi Anh Vien (born 1996) won 8 gold medals, 1 silver medal, and 1 bronze medal and broke 8 SEA Games records. She ranks 25th in the world for 400m freestyle women and 32nd in the world for 400m individual medley women.​

Mr. Tran Bac Ha, Chairman of BIDV said BIDV proposed to establish the Foundation with a view to involving local and foreign donators in the development of Vietnam’s swimming. BIDV wishes to contribute to the nurture of Vietnam’s young generation.

BIDV expected the social contributions to the Foundation will reach VND7-10 billion in this year. In addition to supporting young talents to achieve high performance on the international stage, BIDV willed the Ministry of Education and Training to popularize swimming at schools to help students, children and the entire society improve their physical health and reduce drowning risks.

Mr. Vuong Bich Thang, Director of General Department of Sports appreciated the significance of the Foundation to the sports sector and the entire society. Thang said the foundation is an important funding source for the development of sports talent in Vietnam given the limited fund for the talents. The contributions by organizations, individuals and the entire society to the development of Vietnam’s sports help find young talents of the country.

Mr. Le Khanh Hai, Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism stressed, “The swimming training at school is of great significance to the physical development of the whole society. I believe that the Foundation will involve many participants and help realize young talents’ dreams”.

In recent years, BIDV has always been interested in supporting the cultural and sports activities, significantly contributing to the development of the country’s sports. BIDV sponsored Vietnam sports at SEA Games 2007, 2009, 2011 and 2013 with amount of VND110 million, VND330 million, VND550 million and VND550 million, respectively.

In 2014 BIDV officially sponsored Vietnam women’s national football team for the 2014 – 2016 period with VND10 billion each year. Earlier, when the women's national football team won the silver medal at SEA Games 27, BIDV awarded them VND300 million.

For further information, contact:

Branding and Public Relations Department

Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam JSC

Tel: +84422205256; Fax: +84422225316