SOCIAL ENTERPRISE IN VIETNAM

OVERALL COUNTRY PROFILE 

Vietnam is one of the most dynamic countries in South East Asia. The Doimoi ‘Renovation’ reforms, launched by the government in 1986, have spurred economic growth that has transformed Vietnam from one of the world’s poorest nations to one with lower-middle income status.

 

While both current and future economic growth in Vietnam are very promising, the benefits do not always extend to all areas of society. Vietnam is an ethnically diverse country with 54 recognised ethnic groups. The majority of the population (85.5 per cent) belongs to the Kinh ethnic group, and the 53 other ethnic groups in Vietnam account for the remainder of the population – around 13.4 million people. Many of these ethnic minority groups are concentrated in geographically remote and mountainous regions of the country. Inequalities between the Kinh ethnic group and ethnic minority groups remain wide and persistent, especially in education and training, employment and income, healthcare and reproduction. The gender gap among and within ethnic minority groups also persists

Vietnam’s economy has radically transformed over the past few decades. Despite this, Vietnam continues to grapple with social challenges such as poverty, unequal access to public health and education and the need for environmental sustainability. Social enterprises are businesses with a social mission, set up to address these challenges. In the past decade, interest in social enterprise and social entrepreneurship has grown significantly in Vietnam, not only among budding entrepreneurs, but also among non-governmental organisations, policy makers, funders and academics. In 2014, social enterprise was officially recognised as a distinct type of organisation in Vietnam’s Enterprise Law. This was an important milestone, enabling the ecosystem to further develop with the support of a range of stakeholders. Subsequently, new social enterprises have emerged and other organisations that were already pursuing a social enterprise model have embraced the concept and terminology. More intermediaries and networks have been founded; several universities have started social enterprise incubation programmes; and further new social enterprises have been established. This study was commissioned by the British Council. The purpose of the study is to map the Vietnamese social enterprise landscape and to identify key opportunities and issues that need to be addressed to create a healthy and sustainable ecosystem for social enterprises to thrive.

 LEGAL STATUS OF SOCIAL ENTERPRISES 

Just 15 per cent of respondents are registered as social enterprises under the Enterprise Law 2014. Given that, at present, 88 social enterprises have registered under this law, the survey reached nearly a quarter of this population. Of these, over 50 per cent of social enterprises in Vietnam have adopted a conventional private sector structure for their business, with 35 per cent registered as a limited liability companies, 22 per cent as a joint/stock companies and 13 are sole proprietorships or informal businesses. A total of 17 per cent are co-operatives, seven per cent are NGOs and six per cent are schools, private providers of public services or without formal organisational status. In addition, very few (only two per cent) operate as subsidiaries of other organisations, which means 98 per cent are working independently. 

SOCIAL IMPACT 

On average, each social enterprise in Vietnam is working to support nearly 2,000 people, mostly from local communities. When survey repsondents were asked about their primary beneficiaries, 27 per cent of respondents reported that their beneficiaries were individuals with a physical disability, 27 per cent reported that their beneficiaries were long-term unemployed, and 25 per cent said that their beneficiaries were individuals with a learning or mental disability, including children with autism and older people.

Source: CIEM has partnered with the British Council’s Global Social Enterprise programme to conduct a baseline survey of social enterprises in Vietnam, as part of a wider programme across the globe.