In 2015, world leaders adopted the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, which includes a set of 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality and injustice, and tackle climate change by 2030. The SDGs define global priorities and aspirations for 2030 providing a shared vision for governments, the private sector and the civil society to work towards. The SDGs cannot be achievement without joint action and efforts across sectors.

Inclusive businesses, that provide goods, services and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis to people living at the base of the economic pyramid (BOP) making them part of the value chain of companies’ core business as suppliers, distributors, retailers or customers, play a key role in sustainably contributing to the achievement of the SDGs. For companies, the opportunity to engage in inclusive business has never been stronger – technological innovation, new forms of financing, evolving consumer demands, changing regulation and the shared global development goals are creating new openings to tap into the Base of the Pyramid Market. For individual companies engaging in inclusive business offers new revenue streams and opportunities to strengthen competitive position and improve corporate reputation. On the supply side, inclusive business models can help lower operating costs, recruit and retain talent and mitigate supply an operating risks.

On Wednesday 11th May, the Business Call to Action (BCtA) – a United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) hosted global platform showcasing private sector contribution to the SDGs through inclusive business – in collaboration with Inclusive Business Accelerator (IBA), SNV Netherlands Development Organization, The Partnering Initiative (TPI) and Business Fights Poverty will host an invitation-only event to discuss how inclusive business can be leveraged for the SDGs in Vietnam. The event will discuss and provide key insights into (a) what are the key opportunity areas for the private sector to tap into new markets through engaging in inclusive business; (b) how the momentum around SDG implementation can be leveraged to drive a better enabling environment for inclusive business at the national level; and (c) what can be done at a sector level to drive collaboration to build enabling ecosystems for inclusive businesses to accelerate the achievement of the SDGs.

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For more information or to receive an invitation, please contact Minja Nieminen at minja.nieminen@undp.org.