Suntory Pepsico to facilitate sustainable forest development in Vietnam

An agreement signed under the National Park Passport initiative will see the Vietnam's Forestry Department and beverage maker Suntory PepsiCo collaborate on sustainable forestry development in the country.

The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the collaboration on Thursday, saying it would be focused on water replenishment and carbon offset forestry investment and development.

The signing was part of a public-private partnership (PPP) conference on multiple-use value of forest ecosystems and the debut of the National Park Passport Initiative.

The initiative, initially covering 34 national parks in Vietnam will offer promotions for forest-related tours, generating additional resources for forest protection forces.

Under the MoU, the two sides will cooperate in planting native and large timber trees to support people’s livelihoods, increase carbon absorption and neutralization, promote environment protection and ensure water regeneration. They will plant and improve 250 hectares of forest land across the country.

They will also collaborate in updating relevant legal framework and promoting awareness of environment protection and biodiversity conservation.

Suntory PepsiCo is a joint venture between Japan-based Suntory and U.S.-based PepsiCo.

In April, Suntory PepsiCo Vietnam Beverage began building a $300-million factory in the southern province of Long An. Covering 20 hectares at the Huu Thanh Industrial Park, the project is among the biggest-ever foreign direct investment (FDI) projects in the province.

It is set to be completely powered by renewable energy sources including biomass and solar power.

With an annual capacity of 800 million liters, Suntory Pepsico’s sixth project in Vietnam is set to become its biggest and most modern project in the Asia-Pacific region.

In its quarterly performance review for the 24-week period ending June 15, Pepsico said that in the Asia-Pacific region, its net revenue increased 2%, primarily reflecting organic volume growth and effective net pricing, but partially offset by a 4-percentage-point impact of unfavorable foreign exchange.

It said beverage unit volume grew slightly, primarily reflecting high-single-digit growth in Vietnam, double-digit growth in Thailand and mid-single-digit growth in the Philippines, partially offset by a low-single-digit decline in China.