BIDV - The House of Happiness

It is new because I have heard of happy countries and livable countries, but a Happy Bank is probably the first time I have heard of it at BIDV, and it is even more unusual that it has become a task of the Party Committee and the Trade Union... which keeps me thinking about it.

The first issue - Envisioning a Happy Bank

Some countries measure livability not by GDP per capita, but by happiness indices. So, when setting the task of building a Happy Bank at BIDV, is it both the passion and concern of the Leadership Board and the aspiration of the employees at BIDV? Is it true that there are as many ways of imagining and longing for a Happy Bank where one can live as there are employees?

For you A, that vision is a bank with a friendly, open working environment, where each individual is free to be creative, is given the opportunity to develop their abilities, and is able to do suitable work. Each employee is trained, nurtured, given opportunities for development and advancement, cared for in terms of material and spiritual life, and given appropriate and long-term benefits.

For you B, it is a place with a job you love, a stable income, colleagues who are close-knit and share both work and life, a place where we dream about our future, our family, with a lasting bond that extends to our children and grandchildren...

For you C, it is a place worth living and contributing to because it aligns with your personal goals and ideals, where you can live and work with passion and ambition, and contribute to a career that benefits society.

For some others, it's simple: every day at the bank is a happy day. Because they get to meet friends, colleagues, and loyal customers, do meaningful work for everyone and society, and proudly tell their children and everyone else: I am a BIDV employee. And you, how do you envision and what do you desire for the Happy Bank?

The second issue is feeling happy while working at BIDV

The feelings of those who have retired are quite different, perhaps not the same as those of younger people, because the elderly tend to think more broadly…

Since my student days, I, like my peers, have memorized Duong Huong Ly's poem about happiness: "What is happiness? How many times have we asked ourselves?" And he found it: happiness is really simple. Sometimes it's just: Asking each other over and over, but never figuring it out

... You, thin and green, carrying a heavy sack of cassava on your back // Your soft hair drenched in rain // A poem written between two fevers // And you call that happiness.

Happiness is so simple that people can recognize it and count it. And we feel the same way.

First, we think you probably feel the same way we do—the happiness of working at BIDV. Regardless of our position or department, we have worked hard to complete our assigned tasks, to make a small contribution to building BIDV's vast assets in terms of property, technology, resources, position, and brand.

Secondly, we and you also feel the happiness of both enjoying and inheriting, as well as contributing to nurturing, promoting, and developing an invaluable asset: a sustainable BIDV system with a wonderful culture and tradition. These intangible, non-material values are present for us to feel through every task, every interaction, every person, like an endless source connecting generations and units into a unified whole. It is a legacy like a sacred treasure of the BIDV family, cherished and respected.

Thirdly, we also feel happiness when, throughout our working lives, we are fortunate to be part of a wonderful collective... There, we can live fully, freely, transparently, and honestly with ourselves. There, friends and colleagues are close-knit, empathetic, sharing both advantages and difficulties. The more difficult and challenging it is, the more enduring the bond becomes. The entire system is a family. Everyone works together, toward a common goal, like a team of rowers, working together to steer the boat straight toward the future... Even if there are times of irritation, misunderstanding, or sulking... it's just a passing storm. (Imagine the opposite: if you had to live and work in a place where you were always wary, suspicious, and misinterpreting things, how miserable that would be). Our happiness is to live in a bank where: BIDV is a home // In that home, we are all brothers and sisters // 30,000 people - 30,000 hearts // Beating as one: A wonderful belief.

Fourth, we, the retired BIDV employees, feel happy to witness a strong, youthful, vibrant BIDV system... growing day by day, continuously innovating, continuously developing. A system operated by an outstanding next generation, fueled by boundless energy, passion, dedication, loyalty, and commitment to the goal of sustainable, enduring development and prosperity for BIDV.

When I hear the song "Flow, River, Flow!", I suddenly think that this song is for BIDV - singing about the unceasing flow of BIDV. The river gives, the river nourishes, the river works tirelessly, overcoming countless rapids and waterfalls, the river rushes away all the debris, doubts, and hesitations... and straight into the vast ocean of the flat world... Singing about the people of BIDV who quietly work, dedicating themselves completely like the river without regret... Singing about the generations of BIDV like a river that stays forever young, singing about the hearts at the source that look forward, and at the end of the sea that dearly remember the source.

In that flow, each person is a drop of water, and thousands of drops come together to form a river. And our happiness is to be a refreshing drop of water in the BIDV river.

Fifth, we retirees (and when some of you younger people retire later) will feel happiness when our colleagues thank and congratulate us for completing our duties, for what we have done for BIDV. And we will continue our life alongside BIDV in a different way - "As if there had never been a parting." This is a beautiful aspect of BIDV's cultural life, like a clear, selfless, humane, and ethical river flowing between the chaotic mechanisms of the market economy.

Sixth, we are truly happy to say THANK YOU to each other, to thank everyone. Thank you for what BIDV has given us, given to each other, to have today, to be remembered forever. We thank those who came before us for laying the foundation, building the groundwork, and passing on a legacy. Thank you to our colleagues who have worked together with us, sharing the ups and downs. We thank the younger generation for doing so many wonderful things for BIDV, for realizing dreams that we never dreamed of, so that BIDV has the shape and position it has today. If each person's life is a boat, then let us sing:

The boat returns full of laughter // Thank you, harbor, for my long journey // The effort to sift sand for gold // This love is cherished, carried throughout life...

And all the happiness we feel about the Happy Bank is the BIDV Happy Home - so that everyone can always hum the song "The way home is in our hearts // Despite the sun, rain, near or far... // Wind and rain. Home is always waiting for us."

The third issue is, from the shared home to the Happy Bank

The familiar phrase "BIDV's shared home" has now been elevated to a new level, with a higher meaning: the Happiness Bank. I believe that building the Happiness Bank is not the responsibility of any one person: every member of the BIDV family lives in it, both as beneficiaries and as creators through their own hard work and dedication. The union is where the resources of over 30,000 members are gathered, concentrated, synthesized, and harnessed to implement specific solutions, from policies to actions. More than 30,000 union members are soldiers in thousands of combat units. They are more than 30,000 hearts and 60,000 passionate arms, working creatively and efficiently to provide customers with high-quality products and services, thereby generating profits that form the material basis for a happy life. Each member has laid a brick to build today's Happy Bank. So that the next generation will continue to build on the foundation of a sustainable and enduring BIDV Happy Bank.

We retired staff members witness and see the younger generation living happily in that Happy Bank with admiration, not envy. That is a great happiness for us. I would like to present you with my favorite poem, "Heaven":

Thank you for the morning birdsong

Calling me back to the mortal world

Dreaming, such a beautiful dream

Wandering all the way to Heaven.

In Heaven, I see

Two people digging the earth and planting trees

A village gate covered in moss

A river reflecting the shadows of flying cranes

It turns out, it's that simple

Here, every minute, every day

There is a real Paradise

Too close... yet out of reach.

Friends—the Bank of Happiness is beside us, within our hearts, and before our eyes—isn't that right, colleagues?

Spring 2026

Phung Thi Van Anh