Social Enterprise Development Association Myanmar (SeDAM) was established by social enterprises consultant to strengthen social enterprise in Myanmar

Support is forthcoming for social enterprises operating in Myanmar with the establishment of Social Enterprise Development Association Myanmar (SeDAM).

“We have been dealing with various international associations and finding ways to contribute towards building up the economy by supporting social businesses in Myanmar,” said U Mo Lwin, vice president of SeDAM.

Plans are also underway for SeDAM to work with the Yangon government to collect data on social small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and their requirements, U Mo Lwin added.

“We are also planning to partner with different institutions to conduct social start-up programs and provide training to existing enterprises. We hope these activities will help us collect the needed data to support social enterprises,” he said.

SeDAM was established this month by 40 social enterprise consultants with half a decade of experience combined. Social enterprises are defined as start-ups or SMEs operating businesses aimed at developing solutions for social, cultural and environmental issues.

Importantly, social enterprises complement the efforts taken by the government and private sector to address many of the country’s social issues in a more sustainable way. 

Enter SeDAM. “The most significant challenges in Myanmar for social enterprises are developing appropriate skills and attracting investments in the early stages of development. Social enterprises find it more difficult than mainstream businesses due to the lack of skills in conducting business or product or service development as well as impact measurement,” said Daw Mi Mi Myo Win, advisor of SeDAM.

Because these challenges make it very difficult for social enterprises to secure the funding they need to grow and scale, SeDAM’s goal is to provide the necessary training and support needed by the sector, she added.

Within the next 12 months, SeDAM aims to raise better awareness over social enterprises and the role they play in society.

With the number of members expected to be in the thousands within the next 3 years, SeDAM hopes to ultimately lobby the government for better rights and support for social entrepreneurs in the country.

Social enterprises are agents of positive change and create jobs, reduce inequality and bring hope to our most disadvantaged communities, delivering social as well as economic value, said Daw Mi Mi Myo Win, who is also  Head of Programmes at the British Council in Myanmar.

In 2014, the British Council launched two capacity building programme for social enterprises in Myanmar: The Social Enterprise Consultancy Programme and Education for Entrepreneurs (E4E) Programme to build a local social businesses consultancy network and provide support to revenue-generating businesses and social enterprises, she

Education for Entrepreneurs (E4E) is in partnership with Standard Chartered Bank to support social SMEs in Myanmar in terms of financial literacy and business development training, she added.

So far, the programme has reached 1,267 businesses and provided consultancysupport to 39 organisations in 12 cities across Myanmar,” said Daw Mi Mi Myo Win.

(The Myanmar Times: https://www.mmtimes.com/news/sedam-formed-support-social-enterprises-myanmar.html )

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