In Asia

Middle East There is no separate legal entity for social enterprises in the Middle East. Most social enterprises register as companies or non-profit organizations. There isn't a proper definition of social enterprises by the Governments of the Middle Eastern countries. However social enterprises in the Middle East are active and innovating in a variety of sectors and industries. A majority of the existing social enterprises are engaged in human capital development. Many are nurturing a cadre of leaders with the experiences and skills needed to enhance the region’s global competitiveness while also achieving social goals. Trends in the region point to an increasingly important role and potential for such activities and for social entrepreneurship in general. These include the growing interest among youth in achieving social impact and growth in volunteerism among youth.[18] According to The Schwab Foundation there are 35 top social entrepreneurs in the Middle East[19] [edit]South Korea In South Korea the Social Enterprise Promotion Act was approved in December 2006 and was put into effect in July 2007. The article 2 defines social enterprises as "an organization which is engaged in business activities of producing and selling goods and services while pursuing a social purpose of enhancing the quality of local residents' life by means of providing social services and creating jobs for the disadvantaged, as an enterprise certified according to the requirements prescribed in Article 7", the disadvantaged as "people who have difficulty in purchasing social services necessary to themselves for a market price, the detailed criteria thereof shall be determined by the Presidential Decree" and social services as "service in education, health, social welfare, environment and culture and other service proportionate to this, whose area is prescribed by the Presidential Decree". The Ministry of Labor is obliged to "establish the Basic Plan for Social Enterprises Support" every five years (Article 5) and not only enterprises but also cooperatives and non-profits can be recognised as social enterprises, which are eligible for tax reduction and/or financial supports from the Korean / provincial governments or city councils, and 680 entities have been recognised as social enterprises as of October 2012. Korea Social Enterprise Promotion Agency was established to promote social enterprises. [edit]Hong Kong There is no separate legal entity for social enterprises in Hong Kong. They are normally registered as companies or non-profit organisations. The Hong Kong Government defines social enterprises as businesses that achieve specific social objectives and its profits will be principally reinvested in the business for the social objectives that it pursues, rather than distribution to its sharehold

rs.[20] In recent years, venture philanthropy organizations, such as Social Ventures Hong Kong, have been set up to invest in viable social enterprises with a significant social impact. [edit]India In India, a social enterprise may be a non-profit Non-governmental organization (NGO), often registered as a Society under Indian Societies Registration Act, 1860, a Trust registered under various Indian State Trust Acts or a Section 25 Company registered under Indian Companies Act, 1956. India has around 1-2 million NGOs, including number of religious organizations, religious trust, like Temples, Mosque and Gurudwara associations etc., who are not deemed as social enterprises. A social enterprise in India is primarily NGOs, who raise funds through some services (often fund raising events and community activities) and occasionally products. Despite this, in India the term, Social Enterprise is not widely used, instead terms like NGOs and NPOs (Non-profit organizations) are used, where these kind of organizations are legally allowed to raise fund for non-business activities. Child Rights and You and Youth United, are such examples of social enterprise, who raise funds through their services, fund raising activities (organizing events, donations, and grants) or sometimes products, to further their social and environmental goals. However, there are social businesses with an aim for making profit, although the primary aim is to alleviate poverty through a sustainable business model. An example is Pipal Tree Ventures Private Limited, which trains rural youth in various construction and infrastructure related skills and has found a way for rural youth to get out of poverty. The company also provides placements to the trained manpower to various infrastructure industries in India, thereby creating an end-to-end sustainable business model. In the agriculture sector, International Development Enterprises has helped pull millions of small farmers out of poverty in India [2] Paul Polak [3], details the story in his book, "Out of Poverty" Another area of social enterprise in India and the developing world is bottom of the pyramid (BOP) Bottom of the pyramid businesses which was identified and analyzed by CK Prahahalad C. K. Prahalad in "Fortune at the Base of the Pyramid" This seminal work has been a springboard for a robust area of both innovation and academic research. [edit]Malaysia The Malaysian Social Enterprise Alliance (SEA) defines social enterprises as "organizations created to address social problems that use business models to sustain themselves financially. Social enterprises seek to create not only financial returns but also social returns to their beneficiaries." [4] The Alliance regards social enterprises as businesses with a social focus, distinct from non-profit organisations.

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