William Smith

Research Fellow, Private Sector and Markets

William Smith joined ODI in October 2012. He is project leader on the AusAid Business Development Exchange project. William has a background working on private sector and rural development, with a focus on financial services and agriculture. He specialises in Southeast Asia having lived and worked in Vietnam and Indonesia over a twenty year period, working with the Ford Foundation, the World Council of Credit Unions, the SIDA funded Vietnam Sweden Mountain Rural Development Programme, ActionAid and as an independent consultant with a range of donors and NGOs.

Outputs

What we can do to help business

Opinion - Articles and blogs - 6 August 2013

There is huge interest now within the international development community on the role of business in development, including how business can contribute to achievement of the Millennium Development Goals or to a new post-2015 development framework.

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How donors engage with business

Publication - Research reports and studies - 1 August 2013

William Smith

Business engagement is a tool through which donors can better achieve their existing objectives. This paper lays out types of business, modalities of engagement and some approaches to donors-business interaction.

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Innovation - Social enterprise: challenges and opportunities

Projects - March 2013 to March 2014

This project will examine the objectives, practices and challenges faced by social enterprises and consider opportunities for new ways of working. The research will be carried out in two diverse, developing country contexts with vibrant social enterprise sectors: Kenya and Vietnam.

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Business and development exchange

Projects - May 2012 to June 2016

This AusAID funded Business–Development Exchange programme will build knowledge on why and how donors should engage with business. Its objective is ‘to inform the strategy of AusAID, other donors, and selected companies for business engagement to achieve specific development objectives.’

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