BAT Vietnam - VINA-BAT Joint Venture Co., Ltd has been honored to acquire certificate by the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS)

In February 2025, VINA-BAT Joint Venture Co., Ltd (VINA-BAT) became the first company in Ho Chi Minh City and the fourth company nationwide to participate, commit to implementation, and satisfy the criteria for the AWS Standard (Alliance for Water Stewardship) certification by the international independent evaluation organization WSAS (Water Stewardship Assurance Service).

The Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) certification is a global standard for sustainable water resource management, and highly appreciated by several big corporates in the world. To achieve this standard, the company must meet four criteria: Good water governance, Sustainable water balance, Good water quality and Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH).

The certification is officially updated on the website of the Water Stewardship Alliance (AWS): List of AWS certified sites - Alliance for Water Stewardship

To achieve this result, VINA-BAT has consistently considered effective water resource management is one of the top priorities in VINA-BAT's sustainable development framework. Specifically, in 2024 (from December 2023 to November 2024), VINA-BAT has made the following impressive advancements:

In pursuit of the above achievements, we have been and will continue to apply best operational practices while continuously improving to deliver better outcomes, such as:

• Organizing “Effective and socially responsible water management” seminar with the participation of more than 25 delegates from 15 companies in the same industry and the same Saigon River basin to receive valuable opinions and experiences from all partners to gradually improve the water stewardship plan to protect sustainable water sources.
• Regularly conduct environmental, water protection sharing to all employees, encourage employees to propose ideas on saving water, and mobilize employees to join hands for community activities.
• In our operations, we apply Integrated Work System (IWS), analyze non-value-added activities (Loss analysis) annually and focus on activities to raise employees' awareness of water conservation, helping to identify opportunities to optimize water use. We aim to increase the amount of recycled water, help replace water from the water supply used for auxiliary equipment such as: cooling, vacuum systems and other cleaning activities for auxiliary equipment and manage leaks from all systems, replace water-saving equipment for water-using areas in the company.

For the upcoming direction, in 2025, the company will continue to set goals and implement solutions to ensure effective water resource management, such as:

• Reduce total water intensity (m3/millions product sticks) by 2% (compared to 2024 result).
• Achieve a water recycle rate of 20% by operating a condensate collection system from the air conditioner system and collecting rainwater for use in cooling tower systems and cleaning activities, this activity will help us save an annual average of more than 600m3 of water.
• Cooperate with business partners to realize the same goals of effective water resource management and sustainable development in production and business activities.
• Continue to cooperate with Thai An Company, accompany the Sai Gon Xanh Club for activities to clean up polluted canals, contributing to spreading positive energy to protect water sources and protect the environment to the community in Ho Chi Minh City.
• Carry out activities to support solar water heater equipment for social shelters in the area.