Nobel Laureate Prof Dr Muhammad Yunus on Friday said many countries around the world are now coming up to adopt the social business concept to address their growing unemployment and emerging economic problems.
“Now we’re invited by many countries around the world to help them set up social business, particularly in Europe,” he told the opening session of a daylong conference at Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel in the city.
Yunus Centre organised the programme marking the 4th annual Social Business Day.
In his opening remark, Dr Yunus, the founder of Nobel-wining Grameen Bank, said the European countries are impressed with the social business concept. “Germany, France and other countries are joining the social business.”
Referring to the growing joblessness in the European Union, he said unemployment is now a headache for European society, particularly among the low-income families.
He said: “Unemployment is shaking up Europe. Half of the young people are unemployed in Spain. Portugal has a lot of unemployment…Sweden has invited us. There’re already a dozens of social business institutions in Sweden….”
The Nobel Laureate said a lot of people in the city of London go to sleep without food. “They’re worried. They’ve invited us to adopt social business.”
About the crowd-funding concept, Dr Yunus said crowd-funding is a small thing but significant. “Not only the big guys will make investment in social business, not only the big corporations will pump money into social business and not only big institutions will provide money for social business, but every person can provide 20 dollars, 50 dollars and 500 dollars for a specific project.”
The total amount will make a fund of 100,000 dollars for the specific project and this is coming up, Dr Yunus told his audience.
About the progress of social business, Prof Yunus said, “Now we’re getting involved in the European Union. The social business is included in the part of European Union policy. This is the significant improvement….”
Apart from the policy progress, he said France has created a fund for promoting social business.
US Ambassador Dan W Mozena and Japanese Ambassador Shiro Sadoshima also spoke at the opening session of the conference.
The Social Business Day 2013 is a platform for sharing experiences in the growing field of social business – non-dividend companies to solve social problems.
Around 1,000 participants, including 150 from 30 other countries, took part in the conference and discussed with social business entrepreneurs from around the world about their works, business models, recent achievements and challenges.
