Grameen Telecom Trust to fund three social business projects
Grameen Telecom Trust is currently engaged in various social business projects to uplift the social conditions prevailing in Bangladesh. During the Social Business Day, held on the 28th of June 2014, three new projects were launched by Grameen Telecom Trust for a sum of total BDT 84 lacs. The announcement on the social business ventures came at a session of the Social Business Day discussion at Radisson Hotel in Dhaka. The first project is for supplying pure drinking water (NGF) for the people in Shyamnagar, Shatkhira at a cost of BDT 40 lacs. The two other projects are for a dairy foods business (LUSTRE) in Naogaon and a mushroom seed business (ASHIKA) based in the Chittagong Hill Tracks for 32 lacs and 12 lacs respectively.
All partners of GTT represented by the Executive Directors along with the Managing Director of GTT, Ms. Parveen Mahmud and members of the social business team were present on stage. The Managing Director of GTT stated that these projects will address the social problems within the society while creating a source of employment for the unemployed. Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus called upon the young generation to contribute with new ideas that will address social problems. He said that it is possible to change the lives of at least 1% of habitants in this world through social business. “We have to know how to take the first step. If we take the first step, hopefully we can start the journey of thousand miles easily", he added. During the day, various other influential local and foreign dignitaries, academics, students and others were informed on different aspects of the concept of Social Business and discussed to find out ways through which unemployment could be turned into entrepreneurship to eradicate poverty from our society.
