Experts in Taipei push social procurement for change

TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Global experts called for institutional supply chain reforms to advance environmental and social goals during the Social Enterprise World Forum (SEWF) in Taipei. Organizations can multiply individual consumer impact through strategic procurement decisions, according to a panel of experts. The forum brought together international leaders to discuss social procurement's transformative potential for businesses and governments.

The panel convened on Tuesday (Oct. 29), featuring international executives and government officials discussing social procurement, including scaling strategies. Participants included Patrick Bardsley, CEO and co-founder of Spectrum Designs in the U.S., Jennifer Beason, the social business global director at SAP, Dr. GJ Lee (李冠志) from the Small and Medium Enterprises and Startup Administration (中小及新創企業署) at Taiwan’s Ministry of Economic Affairs (經濟部), and Juliana Adam, the CEO and founding partner of Malaysia's Biji-biji Initiative. The discussion addressed People and Planet First verification systems for social enterprise impact certification among other topics.

SAP's Beason emphasized large corporations' significant impact on social or environmental goals through their operational scale advantages. Dr. Lee highlighted public-private partnerships as crucial for social procurement success. Adam identified plastic recycling infrastructure gaps in Malaysia, which affects rural communities' waste management capabilities, particularly for complex plastic types requiring specialized processing.

The Biji-biji Initiative supports social enterprises through procurement catalogues and community recycling programs. Adam described the Beyond Bins program, which provides recycling machines and entrepreneurship training to communities. "We actually train them on the technical recyclability side of things, on plastics, and we also train them on how to be entrepreneurs," Adam explained.

Malaysia faced significant challenges from the import of plastic waste from wealthy nations following China's 2018 ban on waste imports into its own country. The country became a top destination for plastic waste imports, and in 2020 it produced and imported 2.7 million tonnes more waste than it could responsibly manage. Malaysia tightened plastic import rules in July 2025, excluding shipments from non-Basel Convention countries, including the United States.

Individual consumers maintain important roles alongside organizational procurement decisions, panelists emphasized. Adam advised avoiding single-use plastics and identifying misleading recyclability marketing claims from manufacturers. She recommended conducting personal "plastic audits", such as by counting single-use items in personal bags to increase environmental awareness.

Panelists stressed that social enterprises must maintain financial viability alongside social missions for sustainable operations. Bardsley emphasized the importance of profitability, describing social impact as an additional value beyond core business success. Beason highlighted the millions of social enterprises around the globe, and how SAP could help them create connections to form ecosystems of change.

Charles Wigglesworth, Deputy CEO of Social Enterprise UK, moderated the discussion, which took place in Taiwan this year for the first time. The forum ran from Monday (Oct. 27) to Thursday (Oct. 31) at Songshan Cultural and Creative Park (松山文創園區). Over 1,000 global policy and business leaders gathered to discuss social enterprises addressing environmental and social challenges. ◼