SOCIAL IMPACT
We believe in providing competitive and responsible financial services, along with crucial support services, to help our clients grow sustainably and with better financial management.
By targeting remote, low-income households with no other access to finance, we are assisting in the macroeconomic growth of Lao PDR for long-term sustainability by enabling economic growth to be more inclusive and sustainable for the long term; we aim to close the gap and improve current disparity between socio-economic classes.
We have implemented systems to collect and track data to measure our social impact as we continue to grow and improve our microfinance operations in Lao.
We follow microfinance industry best practice, including appropriate collections practices, and value consumer advocacy and protection
Sustainable Development Goals Integration
We have integrated the Global Goals for Sustainable Development into our operations, in correlation with our own Social Goals. We aim to maximise our impact in as many of these areas as possible:
The Lao Statistics Bureau tracks data on progress in Lao PDR towards the Global Goals here. The International Labour Organisation published this Employment and Environmental Sustainability fact sheet on Lao PDR in 2017. An interesting article on integration of the Sustainable Development Goals in Lao PDR is available here. This World Bank dataset is also useful, and the Sustainable Development Report tracks progress in Lao PDR here.
Social Performance Indicators
We take social performance management seriously and have a steady focus on environmental social governance and ESG strategy.
The Social Performance Indicators are an international social performance assessment tool for financial service providers. In our first assessment in 2020, we easily outperformed the average Lao MFI by achieving a total of 71%, when the average Lao MFI achieved only 58%.