TRAPHACO: Integrating Social Responsibility with Sustainable Development

The world economic crisis adversely hit the Vietnamese business community and its impacts still persist until this point of time. Nevertheless, TRAPHACO has managed to maintain stable operation and sustainable development. This proves that TRAPHACO has a very strong internal force. We have withstood difficulties for five years, starting from 2007. With our outperformance, we were named the No. 1 pharmaceutical company in Vietnam in 2008.

 

At present, TRAPHACO has two pharmaceutical factories producing modern medicines and traditional herbal medicines, both meeting GMP standards of the World Health Organisation (WHO-GMP). TRAPHACO is proud to be the No. 1 producer of oriental medicines in Vietnam. 2012 also witnessed the fastest development pace in history with 14 branches in operation (two first-level branches, 12 second-level branches) and many member companies.

 

TRAPHACO has a very powerful production and sales foundation. Economic difficulty in 2012 is a real test to all businesses and many could not live through and went bankrupt. During this tough time, only capable companies can survive. TRAPHACO is considered a TOP 50 listed company in Vietnam. In late 2012, the company was honoured as the National Value, becoming one out of 54 companies to earn this trophy. All these build up the prestige of TRAPHACO because during this deflationary period we not only stand firmly but we also develop robustly thanks to the trust of society, the devotion and effort of our staffs, the support of shareholders, and the sharing of partners. Revenue and profit in 2012 climbed over 30 per cent, a very impressive performance in the current context.

 

A plenty of difficulties are in front of us in 2013 but I believe that we will pass through because we have great supports of our partners and customers. Especially if we know to combine the consensus in the company and the trust of customers, we will succeed and complete our plans.

 

As a company leader, I am responsible for leading our company to sustainability and longevity. Our business goal is to combine business efficiency with social responsibility. Social responsibility means the responsibility to employees and environmental protection which will lead our company to longevity. This is what TRAPHACO regularly does. We started doing social responsibility when we were in difficulty. And, we do more when we are stronger.

 

We always regard employees as the life-sustaining element of the company. Hence, we introduce a lot of good treatment policies to improve their spiritual and material life in order to boost their devotion and loyalty to the company. For example, the State provides that maternity leave for female employees is six-month time from February 1, 2013 but we have already applied this for years because we want them have more time to take care of their children. Indeed, no food is better than the mother’s milk. We have built a cooperating and sharing culture in the company. According to our internal surveys, most employees said wages were not the decisive factor to work for TRAPHACO but because they could work, prove, devote and assist others. Many division leaders said that it was not difficult for them to do their own business with much higher income than TRAPHACO paid but they felt happy to work with and assist more than 1,000 other people in TRAPHACO. For more than a decade, TRAPHACO has only recruited, not fired any employees.

 

Most major pro-community events have participation of TRAPHACO like 10 straight years participating in the "For the poor" programme, eight years going with the "One heart - one world" programme, and four years supporting the "Spring for kids" programme. To exercise social responsibility, TRAPHACO annually organises over 500 PR events like joining forces with the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union to deploy the Green Summer campaign, carrying out thanking activities, providing medical checks, presenting medicines for patients in hospitals and the poor, providing healthcare knowledge for countryside people. We do this from the responsibility and virtue of physicians and our responsibility to the society.

 

Particularly, the company has collaborated with the Health Service under the Ministry of Public Security since 2011 to plant medicinal herbs in prison areas where prisoners are growers and caretakers. This activity carries a profound humanity meaning as it helps prisoners realise that they indirectly help others to have diseases cured. On the other hand, TRAPHACO purchases all medicinal herbs grown by prisoners.

 

Not long ago, after we hosted the Trade Union Congress, we launched a campaign to encourage employees to donate clothes to the poor. Indeed, as known how to give is more important than what to give, we thus asked our employees to wash, iron and fold all old clothes before giving to the poor. Doing so, recipients also feel respected.

 

We pay attention to Youth Union. Youngsters do not suffer what is called misery during the wartime and the company always encourages them to take part in social development programmes to let them know and share with the community. Social activities have long become a beautiful deed and a culture of TRAPHACO.

 

According to international practices, all medicines must meet international GMP standards. Applying international standards make us feel more mature and more responsible. We invest more for environmental protection, which accounts for some 30 per cent of total costs in a pharmaceutical plant construction project. This will make our production facilities meet WHO standard requirements and protect the health of workers as well.