The Social Impact Businesses of the COVID-19 Adaptation Programme 2022 are announced on July 26. (Photo: MPI)The announcement wasmade at an event on July 26 co-hosted by the Agency of Enterprise Development(AED) under the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), Global AffairsCanada (GAC), and the UN Development Programme (UNDP) to announce “The SocialImpact Businesses of the COVID-19 Adaptation Programme 2022”.
Addressing the event,AED General Director Le Manh Hung said in the implementation of sustainabledevelopment goals, SIBs are an essential component not only in making acontribution to economic development but also in creating positive impacts on societyand the environment by creating jobs and providing products and services fordisadvantaged groups in society.”
“The COVID-19Adaptation Programme is such a meaningful, necessary, and comprehensive supportproject both financially and technically in order to help SIBs overcome the challengesof COVID-19 and to restore production,” he said.
“In the upcomingmonths, the selected SIBs will receive financial support and participate in the1:1 coaching programme with three incubators to solve specific problems inmanagement, business, and product development, thereby contributing to theimprovement of SIB's capacity to recover and further develop."
Despite a vibrant anddiverse ecosystem for SIBs, Vietnamese businesses are facing multiplechallenges to balance profits and creating social impacts in developingsustainable business models. The challenges have further increased due toCOVID-19.
In April, the“Leveraging Vietnam’s Social Impact Business Ecosystem in Response to COVID-19”– ISEE-COVID project launched the COVID-19 Adaptation Programme to support SIBsin the agriculture and tourism industries, focusing on those led by women andvulnerable groups.
Over 150 SIBssubmitted an Expression of Interest, and as a result, 29 SIBs from acrossVietnam were selected for the programme. Of them, 20 are led by women and fourby persons with disabilities.
“It’s inspiring to seesuch a diversity of ideas from women-led businesses, ranging from high-qualitymade-in-Vietnam products to new innovative ideas such as using larva to turnleftover foods into organic fertilizer, and a new rice cultivation method thatsaves costs, circulates nutrients and reduces greenhouse gas,” said UNDPResident Representative in Vietnam Caitlin Wiesen.
With the reopening ofVietnamese tourism, she hoped that creative models such as ‘dining in thedark’, innovative community tourism, and the application of reducing waste inthe tourism sector will grow quickly. The ISEE-COVID project is building acritically important ecosystem for such social impact businesses to succeed andscale, she said.
Three inspiringincubators – BizCare, Wise and Angle4Us – will be working closely with theselected SIBs in the next six months to identify critical challenges due toCOVID-19; design new business models or develop new products/services to adaptto the pandemic; and build and test prototypes of products/services with theseed funding./.
VNA
