Message from Professor Muhammad Yunus

I am very happy to welcome all of you to the 4th Social Business Day where we will look at the exciting new developments in the field. Social Business Day is marked to celebrate the achievements in social business, find ways to face new challenges, and develop strategies to achieve new targets. It is attended by inspirational local and international figures and creates a platform to take these exciting ventures forward. We will have approximately 1,000 participants with us this year, with 150 international guests coming from over 30 countries. I am happy to see that the movement is gaining global momentum.

We are proud of the continued successful expansion of our social business project and partnership across the world. Yunus Social Business and the African Development Bank have jointly launched the Holistic Social Business Movement in Africa, which includes pilot projects in Tunisia and Uganda, creating awareness and capacity building of stakeholders in Social Business.

In March 2013 we announced a partnership with Sir Richard Branson, Virgin Unite, Former US President Bill Clinton and the Clinton Global
Initiative, to launch a large-scale reforestation program in Haiti which will aim to create sustainable forestry. ESPM, a leading business school in Brazil, also launched Yunus Social Business Centre which will develop academic curricula around social business, new joint ventures and a social business fund throughout the country. There will be similar new initiatives in Nepal in partnership with the Chaudhary
Group. During Social Business Day we will have an opportunity to interact with those who are setting up these initiatives in their respective countries.

In Bangladesh, interest in social business has also been growing steadily. Yunus Centre has been organizing Social Business Design Labs where entrepreneurs bring forth exciting social business plans which are implemented from idea to reality through the participation of business people, mentors, marketing experts, subject area experts, and investors. We just held our Fifth Social Business Design Lab. Yunus Centre, Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT), Grameen Kalyan, Grameen Trust have been working together to bring together resources to launch social businesses, some of which will be showcased on Social Business Day. Yunus Centre has developed academic curriculums and collaborated with several private universities in Bangladesh to initiate social business courses.

Our growing movement and our experiences reflect that we can indeed strive towards creating a new world where our dreams, endeavors and efforts are focused not on just ourselves, but on helping others in a sustainable way; a world which brings the best out in each of us in terms of our energy and creativity.

We are already on the trajectory to take us to our aspired new heights. Our aim is to transform 1% of the total economy of a city, a province, or a country as a social business economy in the next five years. Let us continue at full steam.