Taiwan’s foremost foreign aid organization partners with the private sector for diplomatic allies’ well-being.
Entities seeking to become a U.S.-based B Lab Certified B Corporation must demonstrate a willingness to go above and beyond to make a positive social and environmental impact. As a national leader in responsible corporate governance, Taipei City-based DOMI Earth became the first Taiwan company to earn the designation in 2014 on the strength of its work to help roughly 1,300 public and private entities in Taiwan, Japan and Thailand reduce their energy consumption and carbon emissions. Since then, it has also significantly expanded its operations in the country’s South American ally Paraguay.
The final selections for the first IF Lab impact pioneer contest are displayed at the Taiwan Design Research Institute’s Innovation Art Theater in 2022. (Courtesy of International Cooperation and Development Fund)
“Our main task is to raise awareness about environmental issues, particularly the simple things we can do to protect the planet,” said Corey Lien (連庭凱), co-founder and CEO of DOMI. “That’s why we launched our Power to Change initiative, which brings together governments, corporations and consumers to encourage mass transition to energy efficient technologies.” The campaign has received overwhelming participation from enterprises, government agencies, nonprofit organizations and educational institutions, advancing the company’s goal of creating a collective force that can change the world for good, he added.
DOMI’s expansion to Paraguay in 2022 was made possible by support from Taiwan’s International Cooperation and Development Fund (TaiwanICDF). Initiated in 2021, the fund’s Impact Frontier Lab (IF Lab) helps Taiwan’s diplomatic allies make progress on U.N. Sustainable Development Goals through partnerships with enterprises and civil society organizations (CSOs). “We invite businesses and CSOs to leverage their products and services, as well as creative and innovative talent, to get involved and boost the effectiveness of development assistance,” TaiwanICDF Secretary General Charles C. Li (李朝成) said. “Meanwhile, our organization shares its experience, expertise and connections with participants to facilitate their success.” TaiwanICDF began promoting public-private-people partnerships in 2018 to ensure all stakeholders had the opportunity to join the cause, he added.
The first IF Lab project focused on the needs of Taiwan’s allies in Latin America and the Caribbean in four key areas: agriculture and rural development, climate change and environmental sustainability, sustainable economic development, and technology in education. The second round, currently in the process of selecting “impact pioneer” contest winners, is expanding to include all the country’s allies and address some of the most pressing current global issues, including climate action and adaptation, ecological and environmental sustainability, economic empowerment of vulnerable groups, and sustainable food production and consumption.
DOMI partners with Asuncion-headquartered Fundacion Paraguaya to implement practical solutions like enhancing education, entrepreneurship and microfinance to alleviate local unemployment and poverty. (Courtesy of DOMI Earth)
Redistribution Saves
Impact pioneers are chosen through competitive reviews of project proposals, with criteria including feasibility, ingenuity and how well expected outcomes address allied nations’ needs. In addition to participating in TaiwanICDF-organized training sessions, the three top winners each receive funding of up to US$200,000 to match their own investment. For DOMI, the grant enabled the company to expand its sustainability mission from Asia to South America. “We need to take immediate climate action to secure a livable future,” Lien said. “Our strategy, called the minus-plus model, is designed to recover and recycle materials and products while encouraging consumers, employees and society at large to minimize resource use.”
The project has helped 165 families install a total of 600 LED lightbulbs while also teaching them other ways to make their homes more energy efficient. (Courtesy of DOMI Earth)
For its Power to Change: Energy Prosperity project in Paraguay, DOMI partnered with Asuncion-headquartered Fundacion Paraguaya to implement practical solutions like enhancing education, entrepreneurship and microfinance to alleviate unemployment and poverty. They also visited banks, logistics companies and utility providers to encourage them to switch entirely to electronic statements and then set aside a portion of the money saved to help disadvantaged households replace incandescent bulbs with LED alternatives. “The driving force behind our Energy Prosperity project is digital transformation, which enables entities to reallocate resources,” Lien explained. “The initiative addresses both waste and poverty by reducing companies’ paper use, overall costs and carbon footprints while improving the quality of life for those in need.” So far, the DOMI project has helped 165 families install a total of 600 LED bulbs and taught them other ways to make their homes more energy efficient.
Stan Ma, right, a senior manager at Hyweb Technology Co., gives the thumbs up alongside a restaurant owner in Belize’s capital city of Belmopan, where the Taipei-based software developer is helping local entrepreneurs enact digital transformation with support from IF Lab. (Courtesy of Stan Ma)
At the same time, the foundation held publicity events that resulted in more than 1,000 consumers signing a commitment to switch to electronic bills, as well as lectures on climate action and community building attended by over 1,200 young people. “We aim to increase public engagement in environmental and social issues and establish a local-for-local model that ensures disadvantaged households are always provided for,” Lien said. “Combined with our minus-plus model, we can reduce resource waste while contributing to the well-being of local communities.”
Like TaiwanICDF, DOMI seeks to engage and empower stakeholders. To accomplish this, they offer workshops and sustainability activities such as beach cleanups, environmental education and tree planting events on top of business consultations to reduce nonessential consumption. With the Paraguay initiative progressing apace, DOMI is looking to expand to North America, where the company is discussing cooperation with a Canadian bank.
Head Start
Another chosen impact pioneer is Taipei-based Hyweb Technology Co., which specializes in information security and e-book, e-government and e-payment solutions. According to Stan Ma (馬宜信), senior manager of Hyweb’s information systems division, the company has taken part in over 30 information and communications technology projects administered by TaiwanICDF in Central American and Caribbean allies Belize, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, and St. Vincent and the Grenadines since 2007, assisting with the implementation of online public services, health information systems and vehicle registration and licensing systems.
Hyweb helps Central American ally entrepreneurs use software tracking systems for retail functions.(Courtesy of Stan Ma)
Under the IF Lab, the software developer launched its Myool-Go platform in Belize to enable villages in Cayo District, where the capital city of Belmopan is located, to establish store-to-store logistics stations with the goal of boosting sustainable economic development. The country’s unemployment rate surged to about 10 percent during the height of COVID-19, and lockdowns made it more difficult for people, especially those in remote areas, to access daily necessities, Ma said, adding that it has been very gratifying to step in to alleviate such problems by building distribution networks spanning multiple villages to lessen the distance residents must travel to acquire goods.
Hyweb also plans to help set up 128 new stores by 2024 to create jobs and stimulate rural economies. To this end, it provides entrepreneurs with essential equipment like freezers, shelves, signboards and point of sale devices along with software systems for tracking orders, sales, deliveries and inventories. Digital skills training courses are included to give nascent businesses the capacity to make the most of Hyweb’s assistance. “The digital divide between urban and rural areas widened even more during the pandemic,” Ma said. “Our work in Belize means more businesses will undergo digital transformation and thus open up new livelihoods for people who’ve previously been excluded from digital advances and the formal labor market.”
The Taiwan software company aids a supermarket owner in creating a membership program. (Courtesy of Stan Ma)
Civil society and private businesses such as DOMI and Hyweb are playing an increasingly larger role in development assistance alongside governments and intergovernmental agencies. “With joint contributions and shared risks, public-private partnerships better leverage resources, expertise and networks,” the TaiwanICDF’s Li said. “Each side stands to gain more by acting in concert, with results including the expansion and greater efficiency of aid programs for the public sector and access to new markets for private actors. ”
Write to Kelly Her at kher@mofa.gov.tw