Nguyễn Văn Tú, CEO of Nhất Tín Logistics. — Photo courtesy of Nhất Tín Logistics

Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is becoming an increasingly important factor for businesses, who now have to strike a balance between social responsibility and financial success. While the societal benefits of ESG are clear, many businesses are still unsure of the practical benefits to make the investment worth it.

The HCM City-based Nhất Tín Logistics is one of Việt Nam's leading express delivery companies, operating across all 63 provinces and cities in the country. In addition to providing a wide range of logistics solutions, it is also one of Việt Nam’s pioneering businesses in terms of embracing ESG, having been involved in many charitable activities over the years.

Việt Nam News speaks to its CEO, Nguyễn Văn Tú, on how ESG practices are a win for everyone, including customers, workers, the community, and businesses themselves.

How do you assess the importance of ESG practices for businesses, especially for Nhất Tín Logistics?

Pursuing ESG practices is a crucial foundation for building and sustainably developing any business. It is becoming an increasingly important metric for companies alongside growing one’s revenues and profits.

ESG is especially important as more and more customers are paying attention to sustainability, protecting the environment and businesses’ social responsibility.

It is also necessary to ensure a safe, fair and transparent working environment to attract and retain talent and improve their productivity.

With our motto of “More than a service,” Nhất Tín Logistics is committed to not only bringing customers international standard services, but also contributing to Việt Nam’s societal development. ESG practices are among our top priorities.

As a logistics company, your operation uses a considerable number of vehicles for transport. What policies do you have to comply with environmental standards?

Nhất Tín Logistics is committed to the nation’s shared goal of net zero emissions by 2050, and is thus pursuing various solutions to reduce emissions.

We currently operate over 450 vehicles of various sizes using internal combustion engines. As we were looking forward to the development of electric trucks – which we will gradually switch to – we have been adopting other solutions in the last 10 years with positive results.

For example, we have worked with experts to organise training programmes for our drivers on the importance of preserving fuel, which have helped cut fuel consumption by around 7 per cent and reduce emissions. This not only cuts costs but also protects the environment.

In addition, we have replaced forklifts using internal combustion engines with electric forklifts at warehouses for loading and unloading goods. We also regularly inspect and maintain our vehicles to ensure they comply with emissions standards.

We even raise the public's awareness of the importance of protecting forests and oceans with banners plastered on our trucks, which helps educate and encourage them to protect the environment.

How do you ensure a positive working environment for your employees?

In addition to having all of our workers having health and labour insurance as per regulations, Nhật Tín Logistics has a work safety management department, which makes sure that our working environment is safe and trustworthy.

Everyone here is issued all the necessary protective equipment, there are clear work safety signboards and we have fire safety training classes provided by trusted authorities.

We also actively seek out demands and wishes of our employees through our internal network for everyone to share their thoughts and feedback, and our executives and managers reply to them in a timely fashion.

It is important to make sure that no one is left behind, and back during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though our operations struggled greatly, we strived to ensure a steady income for our over 3,000 employees and that they got vaccinated as soon as possible, especially our drivers and shippers in charge of goods transportation in COVID-hit areas.

We also pay great attention to their mental well-being, with our employee bonding activities helping create a happy and united working environment, and their feedback is always regarded highly and acted upon. This not only improves productivity, but also creates a capable and keen workforce.

Nhất Tín Logistics donating essential items to families affected by floods in Central Việt Nam in 2021. — Photo courtesy of Nhất Tín Logistics

An important facet of ESG is making positive contributions to the community. What kind of corporate social responsibility activities does Nhất Tín perform?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the most damaging periods for businesses around the world, Nhật Tín Logistics actually played a role in Việt Nam’s fight against it. We were proud to be one of the leading businesses in providing free transportation for essential medical items and other goods at COVID-19 hotspots.

For example, we worked with other organisations to deliver 500 free meals to medical workers in Đà Nẵng, and face masks and medical equipment to quarantine zones, COVID-19 hospitals and other sites around Việt Nam involved in COVID prevention and fighting.

We worked with HCM City’s Department of Industry and Trade to organise mobile spots for selling fresh produce at fixed prices at various locations in the city, helping the public get access to essential food items, and we also donated VNĐ200 million to a charity programme that provided free essential items for families in need.

The company was honoured with a certificate of merit by the HCM City People’s Committee for outstanding achievements in the prevention of and fight against COVID-19.

In addition, Nhất Tín has also organised many other charitable activities in recent years, such as encouraging workers to donate blood and donating essential items to households affected by floods in Central Việt Nam and rice to orphans and disadvantaged seniors.

We also frequently work with charity groups to provide free transportation of gifts and other items donated to poor students and people in need around Việt Nam, or to build schools.

What benefits have ESG brought to your company? Do you think this is an important investment?

Our policies on ESG have brought us many practical values, especially on the humanitarian side. After the COVID-19 pandemic, thanks to our efforts to protect our workers, we have a loyal and dedicated workforce that is willing to stand with us on our journey.

We have also received plenty of awards recognising our efforts and policies, such as the Top 10 Asia Pacific Outstanding Brands and Asia Green Growth Enterprise Award this year, and we made it into CareerViet’s top 100 Employer of Choice in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Investment in ESG is a core value of Nhất Tín Logistics to help it develop sustainably, and our workforce is the centre of our operation. A happy workforce means our customers are also happy with their services.

Our investment in this area is improving our public image and the trust of customers (who are increasingly paying attention to sustainability), and helping find and retain talent.

It also helps us attract investors, as data on ESG provides a comprehensive look into a business’s activities instead of just financial numbers, meaning they can invest in sustainable companies that can provide long-term value for shareholders.

Investing in ESG is important, not because of the appearance of doing good, and is a decisive factor in our success.

As we understand the importance of ESG, we target incorporating ESG practices into our operations, which are always on our mind when deciding new policies for our business and improvements.

We will not stop at charity, environmental and workforce-caring activities; we aim to continuously expand and enhance our operation to fit our sustainable development goal. — VNS