A roundtable entitled “Unleashing inclusive business for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Vietnam” took place in Hanoi on May 11. (Photo: VNA)
Hanoi (VNA) – A roundtable entitled “Unleashing inclusive business for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in Vietnam” took place in Hanoi on May 11 to confer how inclusive business can be leveraged for the SDGs in the country.
The event was hosted by the Inclusive Business Accelerator (IBA), Netherlands Development Organisation SNV, Business Call to Action (BCtA) under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), The Partnering Initiative (TPI) and Business Fights Poverty.
Present at the event were representatives from the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), the Asian Development Bank, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), embassies and leading enterprises such as Viettel, Traphaco, TH Milk, and Suntory Pepsico.
Attendees discussed opportunities for the private sector to tap into new markets through engaging in inclusive business, a business initiative that contribute to poverty reduction through the inclusion of low-income community, and how the momentum of SDGs implementation can be leveraged to improve the environment for inclusive business at the national level.
They also recommended what can be done at a sector level to drive the necessary collaboration to build enabling ecosystems for inclusive business to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.
Presenting Ecofarm as an example, the agribusiness’ Chairman Nguyen Hong Quang said the company engages in inclusive business by creating linkages between the business, farmers, the government and scientists.
It has been working to boost technology transfer and R&D activities, help farmers access soft loans and technical support, and build agricultural cooperatives, Quang noted.
The company has also developed large-scale farms of vegetables, fruits and crops in Phu Quoc, Long An, and Dong Thap, where local farmers are encouraged to apply technology and provided with seeds and microbial organic fertilisers, he added.
Meanwhile, Traphaco Group, a medicine manufacturer, has established one of its factories with a 100-hectare farming area of medicinal plants in Sa Pa, northern Lao Cai province, that employs about 600 local farmer households, according to the company’s chairman Nguyen Huy Van.-VNA
