The Summit showcased ongoing initiatives in social business and
probed the latest issues that have arisen as the social business
movement gathers momentum world-wide. The event was initiated by Prof.
Muhammad Yunus and GrameenCreative Labs.
Dr. Riaz Khan, Director, Yunus Center at AIT, attended the Summit on
behalf of AIT. He explained: “The Summit gave us the opportunity to
meet other organizations involved in social business and to explore the
possibilities for cooperation between AIT and the Yunus Centre at
Glasgow Caledonian University, HEC Paris and Kyushu University.”
Workshops were conducted on how social business could be applied to
finance, health care, education, nutrition, water, IT, and microcredit.
Dr. Khan participated in the workshops on education for social business
and finance for social business. He also joined in the expert group for
academia. “It was a fruitful opportunity to meet with people from other
universities and to explore possible ways for collaboration,” Dr. Khan
said.
Professor Yunus opened the conference with an address in which he
talked about the appeal of social business. He related that human
beings are not simply money-making machines who care only about
themselves. Such a view of human beings is very one dimensional, he
stressed. Rather, human beings are multidimensional and possess a
selfless side. “Social business appeals to the selfless side of human
beings,” Prof. Yunus said.
According to the 2006 Nobel Laureate, a social business is a
cause-driven business. It is a business whose objective is to solve a
social cause and where the investor does not seek personal financial
gain.
In a separate panel discussion involving Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht, Chief
executive officer, BASF; Mr. Herbert Hainer, Chief Executive Officer,
Adidas AG; and Mr. Emmanuel Faber, Co-Chief Operating Officer, Danone;
Prof. Yunus recounted how he had challenged Adidas to produce a 1 Euro
shoe for the poor people in Bangladesh. This year, as a result of the
Grameen and Adidas social business venture, a 1 Euro shoe is being sold
in Bangladesh, he reported to the Summit.
The two-day meeting allowed for expert meetings between professionals
involved in academia, finance, government, nongovernment organizations
and youth movements. Later, there was second panel discussion
consisting of Mr. Paolo Coelho, Prof. Yunus and film director Mr.
Shekhar Kapur. Organizations also showcased their social business
efforts at an exhibition included at the Summit venue.
