Promoting the development of social enterprises and social initiatives in Viet Nam and other countries in the region

What are the results achieved so far through the implementation of the measure/initiative?: 

Together with numerous partners, CSIP has made extensive efforts and contributed to creating positive changes in the society. The target groups of action and support of CSIP comprise mainly of four groups: Social enterprises, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) / Civil society organizations (CBSO), Inclusive businesses involving low-income people, and grassroots social enterprise. Since its establishment, CSIP has supported and invested in more than 100 social enterprises, of which 70% are startups; has directly and indirectly created thousands of jobs; trained and changed the life of about 100,000 people; improved the quality of life for about 600,000 low socio-economic status people by providing social products and services. 80% of start-up enterprises under CSIP’s support have grown considerably in terms of scale and management capacity, proving the sustainability and effectiveness of social enterprises after receiving support from CSIP.
In particular, many social enterprises operating in the cultural industries of Viet Nam have received timely and effective support from CSIP under the forms of training courses and consulting packages on business administration specially designed for leaders and managers. Specifically, typical social enterprises having received support from CSIP include: (1) Social Enterprise Journey of the Senses Company Limited (JOS) or Will to Live Services Joint Stock company (Imagtor) – a business specializing in graphic design and free training for disabled people; (2) Viet Trang Export & Production Private Enterprise which was established by the craftsmen of Nga Son sedge mat village and specializes in manufacturing handicraft products (such as carpets, stools and baskets) from natural materials and exporting to major markets in the US and Europe, thereby contributing to improving income for local female workers, utilizing available raw materials, increasing product value and preserving traditional crafts; (3) Social enterprise: an enterprise aims to create a playground for disabled children by organizing creative extra-curricular classes for children, then selecting and using their paintings to print on products to sell on the market; a portion of the profit is used to open new classes, helping children to have more fun with arts and foster their creativity as well as partially providing material support to underprivileged children to help them earn for a living; (4) The Zó Project was established by Nam Dinh Community Development Center (NCCD) with a goal of researching and developing handmade paper from traditional Dó paper technique, designing and manufacturing art products and supplies from Dó paper and handmade paper researched by Zó project, organizing classes on creative crafts from Dó paper, organizing creative events with Dó paper and handicrafts made from Vietnamese paper. With these above-mentioned activities, the Zó Project aims at contributing to the conservation of the Dó paper planting areas and the preservation of the traditional Dó paper-making technique which is in danger of disappearing in Viet Nam; developing groups of production in mountainous or rural areas to make handmade products from Dó paper; increasing income for craftsmen from traditional handicraft villages.
CSIP attaches importance to expanding the targets of support to include social enterprises led by entrepreneurs looking for feasible business solutions to address social problems; civil society organizations (CSO) who aim to developing social businesses with sustainable goals; businesses who involve low-income people in their value chains through job creation and the provision of products and services to underprivileged communities; and grassroots social enterprises established by low-income local people to meet unsolved basic needs, or to develop local products to obtain higher values and make contribution to improving the livelihoods and local sustainable development.
Building a positive ecosystem for social enterprises is one of the top priorities CSIP always strives to pursue. Together with its partners, CSIP has campaigned for an official recognition of social enterprises’ roles in the cause of national development.
Some notable results of SCIP recently include:
– January 2016: Launch of the first program to support the development of social enterprises in mountainous ethnic minority communities – the project to support the social enterprises for the creative and sustainable rural development (SERD).
– January 2017: Launch of the first online social initiative fostering channel in Viet Nam (SOIN).
– June 2017: Launch of the book “Redefining success” which was published in June 2017 in cooperation with the Women’s Publishing House. The book features 22 stories of Vietnamese social enterprises and 5 stories of the social enterprises in the world.
– August 2017: “Én Xanh” Program – the 1st ever event held in Viet Nam to honor business initiatives for community. The program was co-organized by CSIP and the Enterprise Development Foundation of Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI), under the patronage of VCCI. This was the first official program in Viet Nam to promote entrepreneurial spirit and business solutions to address urgent social and environmental issues, seek for and honor business initiatives for the community.
– January 2018: Organization of the SOIN Challenge for social start-up projects.
– August 2018: “Remake City 2018” incubation accelerating program.
– Additionally, CSIP and its partners have connected regularly with a network of hundreds of journalists and dozens of central and local television stations; published a large number of reference publications on social enterprises; enhanced awareness of social enterprises in the discussion forums at home and abroad; inspired over 30 student networks with activities related to social enterprises.