VBCF: Three-year Public-Private Partnership with Lasting Impact

 

Funded by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) and administered by SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, VBCF has supported more than 20 inclusive businesses engaged in agriculture, low-carbon growth, and infrastructure and basic services. Beneficiaries have provided thousands of jobs and help millions of low-income people improve their incomes and access basic services and goods.

 

“The strength of VBCF lies in its unique approach - catalysing business innovative ideas that create ‘win-win’ benefits for businesses and the low income population. The inclusive business models funded by VBCF delivered not only commercial benefits for the company but also social impact for the poor in Vietnam,” said Mr Ann Freckleton, Head of UK Department for International Development in Vietnam.

 

The VBCF demonstrates the confidence of DFID and its like-minded partners, including SNV and the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development (VBCSD), in the challenge fund approach and inclusive business model. VBCF helps catalyse the ambition of the private sector into tangible business ventures. VBCF has shown that the creativity and capacity for innovation of the private sector in Vietnam is abundant.

At this event, the VBCF team and funded companies showcase the life-changing impacts, share lesson learned and the scale up opportunities of VBCF-supported business initiatives. Beneficiaries also share their real-life stories about how VBCF impacts their families’ and their own lives.

 

“Following the success of the inclusive business models funded by VBCF, we would like to share the growth potential of these models, as they are pivotal for sustainable development and poverty reduction. We want to get other people interested in it: the government, other donors and a wider range of private sector partners. We hope the donors will have more similar challenge funds. We also hope that the models supported by the VBCF will inspire other businesses to do inclusive business. Together, we can deliver at scale and unleash the potential of the private sector in a way that hasn’t been seen before in Vietnam,” Mr Ann Freckleton said.

 

VBCF was designed to support the private sector, domestic and international, in Vietnam to develop innovative business models that deliver both commercial benefits for the company and social impact for the low income population using inclusive business (IB) models. The fund called businesses to send initiatives to qualifying rounds announced in 2012 and 2013 and selected 21 projects. Five projects were concluded earlier than scheduled and 16 projects have brought in impacts beyond expectations. VBCF funded VND113 billion in selected projects, accounting for 24 percent of total investment value in these projects. Revenue of funded projects was VND2,293.4 billion.