In its quest for poverty reduction and social equality, Oxfam identifies impact-driven small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play a key role for the success in inclusive business in Vietnam, stated Nguyen Thi Le Hoa, deputy country director of Oxfam in Vietnam.
Overview of the conference. Source: Ngoc Thuy.
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"The concept of inclusive business has been mentioned multiple times in the World Economic Forum on ASEAN held in Hanoi last week, in which ASEAN leaders considered this as the future of the Asian economy," said Hoa in a conference on August 20.
Under this context, Oxfam has played a pioneer role in contributing to ASEAN's vision through the Enterprising For Development (EFD) project, Hoa added.
Pham Kieu Oanh, founder and executive director of the Center for Social Initiatives Promotion (CSIP), a Vietnam-based enterprise incubator, informed that as part of the inclusive business, EFD's ultimate purpose is to support the vulnerable communities, especially small-scale farmers, poor women and youth, to gain employment, to see their incomes increase and have more access to relevant products and services for better living standard.
Under this context, EFD carries this goal through supporting SMEs which are creating positive impacts for vulnerable groups engaged in their value chain, helping them develop sustainably and thus bring sustainable influence for these groups.
Almost all of the SMEs confront with different challenges in management, leadership and operation; specific challenges could be different among the SMEs depending on strategic direction, operating fields or the value chain that the enterprises engage in, Oanh continued.
According to Oanh, EFD's supports focus on enhancing business management capacity and business development of the enterprises through in-depth training courses and business coaching packages tailor-made for SMEs.
During the three-year period of the EFD from 2015 to 2018, the project supported 33 SMEs qualified for Oxfam's requirements and resulted in positive impacts on society.
Specifically, 33 SMEs created 3,321 jobs, of which 77% were occupied by women. The SMEs provided stable livelihood for the farmers participated in their value and supply chains by guaranteeing to buy the entire inputs of 5,196 farming households, and purchasing by seasons from more than 5,698 other households. Additionally, 13,150 households regularly supplied materials to those enterprises.
"The EFD project has helped to change the awareness of our management team towards more professional business management. We have also better defined our vision and strategy for long-term development," said Vo Van Dai, director of Van Phan Dien Chau JSC, one of the companies selected for the EFD.
"The EFD contributed 50% to the success of the company," Dai added.
Nguyen Thi Mai, deputy director of Vinh Ha Safe Food Producing and Trading Company stated the EFD project addressed weaknesses in each company's operations and provided substantial changes for greater efficiency.
Hoa, deputy Country Director of Oxfam in Vietnam, told Hanoitimes that the strong development of SMEs in subject reflect the success of the EFD project.
"They are confident of the future," Hoa said.
"Those enterprises no doubt will bring positive impacts on the society and create spillover effects on other SMEs. In the next few months, we will proceed with the next phase of the project, hopefully there will be more enterprises joining our effort," she concluded.
Under this context, Oxfam has played a pioneer role in contributing to ASEAN's vision through the Enterprising For Development (EFD) project, Hoa added.
Pham Kieu Oanh, founder and executive director of the Center for Social Initiatives Promotion (CSIP), a Vietnam-based enterprise incubator, informed that as part of the inclusive business, EFD's ultimate purpose is to support the vulnerable communities, especially small-scale farmers, poor women and youth, to gain employment, to see their incomes increase and have more access to relevant products and services for better living standard.
Under this context, EFD carries this goal through supporting SMEs which are creating positive impacts for vulnerable groups engaged in their value chain, helping them develop sustainably and thus bring sustainable influence for these groups.
Almost all of the SMEs confront with different challenges in management, leadership and operation; specific challenges could be different among the SMEs depending on strategic direction, operating fields or the value chain that the enterprises engage in, Oanh continued.
According to Oanh, EFD's supports focus on enhancing business management capacity and business development of the enterprises through in-depth training courses and business coaching packages tailor-made for SMEs.
During the three-year period of the EFD from 2015 to 2018, the project supported 33 SMEs qualified for Oxfam's requirements and resulted in positive impacts on society.
Specifically, 33 SMEs created 3,321 jobs, of which 77% were occupied by women. The SMEs provided stable livelihood for the farmers participated in their value and supply chains by guaranteeing to buy the entire inputs of 5,196 farming households, and purchasing by seasons from more than 5,698 other households. Additionally, 13,150 households regularly supplied materials to those enterprises.
"The EFD project has helped to change the awareness of our management team towards more professional business management. We have also better defined our vision and strategy for long-term development," said Vo Van Dai, director of Van Phan Dien Chau JSC, one of the companies selected for the EFD.
"The EFD contributed 50% to the success of the company," Dai added.
Nguyen Thi Mai, deputy director of Vinh Ha Safe Food Producing and Trading Company stated the EFD project addressed weaknesses in each company's operations and provided substantial changes for greater efficiency.
Hoa, deputy Country Director of Oxfam in Vietnam, told Hanoitimes that the strong development of SMEs in subject reflect the success of the EFD project.
"They are confident of the future," Hoa said.
"Those enterprises no doubt will bring positive impacts on the society and create spillover effects on other SMEs. In the next few months, we will proceed with the next phase of the project, hopefully there will be more enterprises joining our effort," she concluded.
