Recap : What are the Private Sector Roles in the Social Business Ecosystem? 🌏🤝🏼

The annual Thailand SE Assembly highlights the endless possibilities of private sector contributions in the panel discussion titled "Strengthening the Power of Private Sector Networks to Drive Social Business" (เวทีเสวนา สานพลังเครือข่ายภาคเอกชนในการขับเคลื่อนธุรกิจเพื่อสังคม), organized by the Office of Social Entreprise Promotion (OSEP). Dr.Tanawan Carraway joined as the guest speaker along with Mr. Paramate Poolsuk, Social Finance Lead of ChangeFusion, LLC and Mr. Phuree Smittinet, the head of the Café Amazon for Chance.

Dr. Tanawan Carraway, Health Lead of the Yunus Thailand, shared her expertise in bridging the corporate and social business worlds. With a rigorous background in health, Dr. Tanawan emphasises the impact of social business in traditionally conservative sectors—like healthcare—as being especially beneficial to society. 💡

Beyond promoting the social business model, Dr. Tanawan urges social entrepreneurs to take advantage of pre-existing corporate mechanisms by utilising social procurement. In line with the panel's theme, social procurement serves as a bridge, giving social businesses an upper hand in accessing funds from large corporations. This cooperation is mutually beneficial, as it creates a positive exchange. As global awareness of sustainability issues—whether environmental or related to inequality—continues to rise, global governance and corporations are adapting to changing demands by opening more doors to social businesses, hoping that their funds will create positive ripple effects in society at large. This premise is at the heart of social business.

Unfortunately, many social businesses are either unaware of or unable to fully access social procurement funds. This issue stems from a lack of connections, knowledge, and accessibility. Dr. Tanawan, on behalf of Yunus Thailand, shared her experience in bridging Thai social businesses to social procurement funds from reputable corporation like Ducati. Yunus Thailand urges Thai social businesses to unleash their potential by fill the social procurement online survey at Link (English) or link. Your voice matters—we would love to hear from social and community enterprises!