Indonesia, 25 August 2021 – ASEAN Foundation in collaboration with GIZ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and SAP is proud to announce the 20 selected social enterprises that will participate in the ASEAN Social Enterprise Development Programme (SEDP). This initiative provides both early and growth-stage social enterprises across ASEAN countries with access to greater opportunities for improving their ventures.
The 20 selected social enterprises of ASEAN SEDP this year are DigTech (Brunei Darussalam), Kilang ReRoot (Brunei Darussalam), LetTAP (Cambodia), Youth Empowerment Academy (Cambodia), Life and Co (Indonesia), Rubysh (Indonesia), Surplus Indonesia (Indonesia), Panyanivej Organic Farm (Lao PDR), Wecare (Lao PDR), Lat Mhu Club (Myanmar), RecyGlo (Myanmar), Demi Laut (Malaysia), Fly Technology Agriculture (Malaysia), Dao Ethical Gifts (Thailand), BAMBUHAY (Philippines), Vianco (Philippines), Bamboo Builders (Singapore), Borderless 360 (Singapore), Vietnam Sustainability Social Enterprises (Viet Nam), and Will to Live Center (Viet Nam).
“I am honoured to see inspiring youth around us today and it is also a pleasure for me to jointly announce the winners of the ASEAN Social Enterprise Development Programme (SEDP) among the Youth. This will hopefully encourage the next generation as well as ourselves to build a greater socio-economic condition of the ASEAN region through social enterprises empowerment. Along with creating a culture of social entrepreneurship, I hope the ASEAN SEDP initiative will become a model of meaningful partnership among the different stakeholders at the ASEAN level that work together in achieving sustainable development goals,” highlighted GIZ Lead Advisor ASEAN, Sergey Makarov.
These highly promising social enterprises are selected based on a set of criteria such as social impact, beneficiary and market, resources, creativity, innovation and feasibility, sustainability, and scalability. They emerge with the highest score amongst a total of 163 ASEAN social enterprise applicants. The 20 selected social enterprises will receive comprehensive capacity building, mentorship, networking opportunities, as well as the opportunity to reach a wider market across ASEAN and to win valuable funding grants.
“SAP shares a common vision with ASEAN Foundation and GIZ to help ASEAN run better and improve lives, and it is very inspiring to see our social entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds navigating the challenges of startups to create positive social impact for our digital future,” said Verena Siow, President and Managing Director, SAP South East Asia.
“By joining the ASEAN SEDP, our social entrepreneurs are empowered to create shared values with the communities and societies that we live in, and are able to interact with experienced mentors and leverage their expertise to build, accelerate and sustain their business growth,” added Siow.
Led by youth aged 18-35 years old, the selected social enterprises are seen through their potential in long-term contribution to address pressing challenges within ASEAN and help the region achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Their services and products are also varied, including women empowerment, digital training, waste management, craft classes, eco-friendly and local products, agriculture education, environmental campaign, and many more. In addition, their efforts also address 6 Sustainable SDGs altogether, which are SDG 1 (No Poverty), SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-Being), SDG 4 (Quality Education), SDG 5 (Gender Equality), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production) and SDG 13 (Climate Action).
“To overcome the major challenges that limit us from growing and developing, ASEAN SEDP with the theme of ‘Social Innovations for the Sustainable ASEAN Community,’ will support social enterprises throughout the ASEAN region to harness innovation and creativity, and establish the social impact that would contribute to the sustainable development agenda as well as the COVID-19 recovery framework,“ said Dr. Yang Mee Eng, Executive Director of ASEAN Foundation.
