POSCO has decided to set up a matching fund with a global raw material supplier to foster human resources, a company spokesman said on Nov. 14.
POSCO signed an agreement with Yancoal on the GEM matching fund on Nov. 13 in Sydney, Australia, attended by POSCO Chairman Choi Jeong-woo and Yancoal CEO Reinhold Schmidt.
In addition to the dictionary meaning "GEM (jewel)," the GEM also means "Go Extra Mile," symbolizing that a corporate citizen, POSCO, takes a step forward in social development.
Yancoal, the world's third-largest coal supplier, is a joint partner of Mt. Thorley Mine, POSCO's first investment in Australia in 1981, and it has been supplying good-quality coal to POSCO in a stable manner since 2006.
POSCO and Yancoal plan to pay $50,000 each year in a one-on-one matching grant scheme, raising $100,000 each year, and then providing the two countries alternately for one year. The funds raised will be used in activities aimed at developing community development and robust industrial ecosystems, such as regional scholarship projects, safety and environment improvement activities, and education support for business partners, to differentiate them from simple donation activities.
Under the first year project in 2020, the two companies plan to run education programs tailored to the employment links of indigenous people with the Clontaf Foundation, an Aborigine-backed organization.
Some of the students supported by the foundation will be selected to provide customized training for mines, including mining and mineral transportation, and will be hired by Yancoal as regular employees after the training.
Programs to be operated in South Korea in 2021 will be selected by future steering committees of both companies.
"We are pleased to contribute to creating symbiotic value for corporate citizens and to further strengthen our business partnership with Yancoal through the GEM matching fund with a raw material supplier," said POCO Chairman Choi.
