PANO – Viet Nam Challenge Fund, a new financing instrument providing grant co-funding to new business projects that will directly benefit the poor, made debut today in Hanoi.
The fund was launched with the budget of $3 million for 2009 – 2011.
VCF is a major component of the “Making Markets Work Better for the Poor Phase 2 (M4P2)” initiative, supported by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (MPI), the Department for International Development (DFID) of the United Kingdom and the Asian Development Bank.
Although Viet Nam has made great strides in bringing millions of people out of poverty in the last two decades, pockets of poverty do remain, the UK Embassy in Hanoi stated in its press release.
“It is also important to pay greater attention to the poor at this particular juncture as the global economic downturn is pushing some of the near-poor back down below the poverty line,” the press release went on.
“Challenge funds first originated in the UK, but have since been implemented by DFID and others across a number of regions worldwide, and have proven to be an efficient development tool,” said Ms. Fiona Lappin, Head of DFID.
“Here in Viet Nam, the VCF will help absorb some of the business risks associated with innovative projects that aim to increase employment and incomes for the poor,” she said.
The Viet Nam Challenge Fund is designed to challenge the business sector in Viet Nam to propose innovative new business models that engage and benefit the poor, on a replicable and sustainable basis.
The VCF will initially focus on agro-processing linkages with the poor, but will expand to other areas such as infrastructure services, if the initial implementation experience is positive.
Ngoc Hung
Source: QDND
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