US-ASEAN Business Council supports Asia Pacific International Spirits and Wines Alliance and Automobile Association of Vietnam to raise awareness on the “Power of No” when drinking and driving

(Singapore) - One of the biggest threats facing young adults today is the risk of road crashes and injuries related to alcohol consumption. In the Asia Pacific region, road crashes claim the lives of 2,000 people each day; up to one-third of fatal road collisions involve alcohol as a contributing factor, and those at highest risk are young, dynamic, and promising individuals who are just getting started on building their future.

The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 3 aims to halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road crashes by 2030. Now is the time to act. This is why the Asia Pacific International Spirits and Wines Alliance (APISWA), representing global spirits and wine producers, the Automobile Association of Vietnam (AA Vietnam, a member of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile or FIA), creative agency Orès, and other local and regional partners across Southeast Asia are rising to the challenge. Together, these organizations have launched Power of No, a digital public awareness campaign to promote responsible behaviors around drink driving. This initiative aims to engage young adults of legal drinking age between 18-30 years old in six countries: Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia, Philippines, and Vietnam.

Drink driving is not just a matter of life or death for individuals, but has an adverse impact on GDP for developing countries. In Southeast Asia, where rapid motorization has outpaced the development of safe road infrastructure, the region faces the second highest road crash fatality rate in the world (at 20.7 deaths per 100,000 people), which can generate an economic loss of 3-6% of annual GDP1. The Power of No campaign aims to reach 10 million young adults of legal drinking age across the six countries to educate them on the serious dangers of drink driving, help them make better-informed choices, and inspire them to pave the path towards a more responsible drinking culture within their local communities.

This March, Power of No will be released on social media to redefine ‘no’ for young people and help them discover the power that they have in influencing norms on drinking and driving. The first phase of the campaign will be a six-week run of teaser videos, commercials and other educational content materials on the campaign’s Facebook pages in each country. Led by APISWA, AA Vietnam and Orès, regional campaign partners include the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), US-ASEAN Business Council (USABC) and European ASEAN Business Council (EUABC), with other supporting organizations in each of the six countries. The goal in later phases of the campaign will be to measure its impact on behavior change.

“We are very excited to be partnering with AA Vietnam, Orès and all supporting partners on this campaign, as part of APISWA’s commitment to helping to reduce alcohol-related road crashes amongst young adults,” said Sam Fischer, President, Asia Pacific & Global Travel for Diageo and current Chairman of APISWA. “We have worked closely and extensively with the authorities in some of the target markets to address drink driving, and this campaign further amplifies the programs and efforts we are making as a group and as individual member companies. We believe road safety is a shared responsibility, and the government, civil society and the private sector must all work together to address this challenge,” he added.

“Drink driving is deeply interconnected with a country’s success for other social indicators,” explained Greig Craft, President of AA Vietnam and President of FIA Region II - Asia Pacific. “This generation of young adults has massive potential to shape the cultural behaviors that could make our roads safer, and we are proud to take part in this campaign to help inspire that change within local communities across Asia Pacific.”

To learn more about Power of No, visit the campaign’s Facebook page or website.