A Co.opmart supermarket in HCM City. Saigon Co.op, the owner of Co.opmart supermarket chain, is marking its 30th birthday this year with a number of social activities. — Photo courtesy of Saigon Co.op

The Saigon Union of Trading Co-operatives (Saigon Co.op) is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year with more than 30 socially beneficial programmes.

They include sorting waste at source, stopping sales of plastic straws, wrapping fruits and vegetables with clean banana leaves, setting up green payment counters exclusively for customers buying environment-friendly products, funding surgeries for disabled children, providing support to Vietnamese Heroic Mothers in their last days, and building charity houses and playgrounds in remote areas.

Saigon Co.op will auction its seven unique keepsakes that mark milestones in its 30-year existence to raise funds for charity.

It will mobilise contributions from staff and customers for its “A million national flags with fishermen” programme to protect the country’s sovereignty over its waters and islands.

Saigon Co.op is considered the pioneer of modern retailing in Viet Nam. It opened its first Co.opmart supermarket on HCM City’s Cong Quynh Street in 1996.

It now has 700 supermarkets and malls and receives over one million customers every day.

Its revenues last year were worth VND30 trillion (US$1.28 billion). — VNS