Lanka Social Ventures, a social enterprise committed to promote and support entrepreneurship and innovation for social development and environmental sustainability says social enterprises and social finance, though a fairly new concepts, are slowly gathering momentum in Sri Lanka.
This was revealed at a recent conference held in Colombo, organized by Lanka Social Ventures in partnership with Oxfam, National Enterprise Development Authority (NEDA), British Council, Good Market and VEGA BIZ+, Lanka Impact Investors Network (LIIN) and Social Enterprise Lanka.
Social enterprises are defined as revenue-generating businesses with a twist. Whether operated by a non-profit organization or by a for-profit company, a social enterprise has two goals: to achieve social, cultural, community economic and or environmental outcomes; and, to earn revenue.
Meanwhile, Central Bank Assistant Governor Asoka Handagama said that Sri Lanka needs to identify social enterprises within a legal framework as there is no clear definition for social enterprises in the country's business registration.
"Social enterprises are there, but they are registered as normal business entities. There should be a separate segment to get these enterprises registered; subsequently the regulator will be able to device a mechanism to fund them not on a donation basis but on an investment basis to promote the sector," he said.
The country should also benefit from social finance as it is an approach to managing money which delivers a social dividend and an economic return, he noted.
He further added that Sri Lanka needs to create awareness on social enterprises and social financing, and reflect on their potential to contribute to sustainable development and poverty reduction.
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