Kia Motors Corporation donates 1.5 million Euros for planting program in Africa

Kia Motors Corporation recently announced its support for a long-term environmental program that guarantees planting of up to 6 million jatropha shrubs in southern Mali, West Africa. The ‘Kia – Planting for a Better Life’ program aims to support agriculture in Africa and generate income for farmers and their families. The company will provide 1.5 million Euros in support, over the next three years.  

The project is supported by Kia’s 14 wholly-owned subsidiaries in Europe. Donations will help establish 6 shrubs for every Kia vehicle sold in the participating European countries, with a total value of 500,000 Euros annually.

Part of Kia’s Corporate Social Responsibility efforts, the project will be carried out by the Netherlands-based ‘Trees for All’ Organization.  The organization has previously collaborated with Kia in the Netherlands and Sweden in 2007 to implement similar projects in Mali. Which lead to the establishment of 203 million trees and 51 schools where over 5000 farmers are taught how to use shrubs and yield better results from their crops. 

‘Kia – Planting for a Better Life’ will be featured on CNBC’s Responsible Business, a television series with a viewership exceeding 355 million in USA, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

On a similar front, Kia has recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) renewing its commitment to World Environment Day. The agreement was signed at the United Nation’s headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya.

Kia will award an eco-friendly vehicle to each of five organizations taking part in the World Environment Day, and whose activities towards preserving the environment score high on criteria as evaluated by UNEP.  The five vehicles include the all new 2012 Kia Rio and the 2012 Kia Optima Hybrid, chosen for their high fuel efficiency. 

Kia’s recently launched campaign on Facebook ‘Kia Likes Caring’ reaffirms the company’s commitment to the UNEP and World Environment Day. The campaign aims to encourage participation and highlight Kia’s social responsibility programs among 1.6 million members of its official Facebook page.

Kia Motors Corporation (www.kia.com) - a maker of quality vehicles for the young at heart - was founded in 1944 and is Korea's oldest manufacturer of automobiles. Over 2.1 million Kia vehicles a year are produced in 13 manufacturing plants in eight countries, and are sold and serviced by distributers in 172 countries. Kia today has over 44,000 employees worldwide and annual revenues of over US $20 billion. The auto manufacturer is the major sponsor of the Australian Open and an official automotive partner of FIFA, the governing body of the FIFA World Cup. Kia Motors Corporation's slogan - "The Power to Surprise" - represents the company's global commitment to surpassing customer expectations through continuous automotive innovation