A group of the members of POSCO Group Global Employee Volunteers hold a march around Cilegon, Indonesia, where they are building 10 houses as part of the Steel Village Project to build 125 houses and build and repair 150 public facilities in the four poor areas in the city. (Photos:POSCO)

Chairman Choi Jeong-woo of POSCO.

POSCO will embark on the “Steel Village Project in Indonesia,” following successful corporate social responsibility initiatives in Vietnam, Myanmar and Thailand.

The latest move will bring the number of residential houses built under the project in Indonesia over next three years to 125, while 150 public facilities will be built in the same period.

The steelmaker will build the houses in four poor villages in Cilegon City in the S.E. Asian country starting this year until 2021, while building or remodeling 150 public restrooms as part of its social service.

The POSCO Social Service Team already kicked off the project to build 10 houses on Aug. 25, holding a dedication ceremony on Aug. 30 in Cilegon City. The ceremony drew a wide public attention due to the presence of actor Kwon Oh-joong, a publicity ambassador for Korea Habitat and Voice Actor Bae Han-seong at the event.

The steel giant’s Steel Village Project has been a leading model for the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, officially selected by the global organization. The POSCO Global Social Service Team, members of POSCO College Service Team, “Beyond,” and winners of the scholarships from the POSCO Cheong-Am Foundation have been lending a hand for the project.

The POSCO Global Social Service Team picks members to work on the project among those who contribute 1 percent of their salaries to social services as members of the “1 Percent Sharing Campaign.”

Vietnam was the first country that benefitted from the Steel Village Project in 2014 as 104 houses were built. Myanmar was the next country with the project, building a number of steel bridges to solve the crucial need for those bridges. In Thailand, the project built steel dams to provide some 6,500 people new jobs.

The project in Indonesia is likely to bring POSCO and the local steel maker closer in their special relationship, which built and operates a joint venture steel maker, PT.KP, in the S.E. Asian country.

The officers and staff of PT.KPSE will participate in the Indonesian project and help build and repair 100 houses under the steel village project while the members of POSCO Global Social Service is ready to build 15 houses and schools in 2019. POSCO joined the local steelmaker KT.Krakatau to set up the PTKP joint venture in 2010.

POSCO decided undertake the joint venture steel plant knowing the S.E. Asian country did not have a steel mill with a blast furnace, and a number of neighboring countries are without steel plants. In 2013, the PTKP put online a steel plant with an annual capacity of 3 million tons, mostly slabs and steel plates. The steel giant’s connection with Indonesia goes back more than a decade before the joint venture steel plant was established.

In 2005, POSCO donated 300 million won in relief of the Tsunami victims and continue to donate funds whenever the country suffered natural disasters.

KPSE Service Indonesia is an affiliate of the j.v. steel maker with the main jobs made of taking care of the wastes from the steel plant, the construction of the water discharged from the steel plants, landscaping and environmental management, among others, and has been donating a 70 percent of its earnings to social causes annually to fully take care of its corporate social responsibility (CSR).