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Move toward social business inevitable

Yunus says as Global Social Business Summit ends

SUSHMITA S PREETHA, from Mexico City
Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has urged businesses to wake up and take note that the current capitalist system, driven solely by profit, cannot survive in the long run.
Social business can provide an alternative paradigm for interpreting and chang-
ing the world, he said. The move towards social business is inevitable, as people, ridden with poverty, inequality and unemployment, get increasingly frustrated with the current state of the world, he added.
“The current system cannot solve poverty; it can only lift people up one step, but that doesn’t mean they will be equal citizens. Even heads of big businesses recognise the unsustainability of this system - that Plan A has failed - and that's why they are looking for a Plan B." He made the observations at the concluding session of the two-day Global Social Business Summit in the Mexican capital on Friday.
He also asked social business practitioners, entrepreneurs and young leaders to ensure that at least 1 percent of all businesses in the world become social businesses by 2020.
“People say 1 percent is too small a number - that it's not a big deal. But if we can reach that 1 percent, nobody can stop the growth and expansion of social business, because by then everybody would realise they need it. The first 1 percent is the most difficult, and that's why we need the extra effort," he said.
He also stressed that the main goal of social business in the present and immediate future would be to transform the unemployed youth into entrepreneurs in every single country.
"If we can show results - that we have been able to turn 1000 unemployed youth into entrepreneurs, for example -then people, including governments, would be forced to take notice of social business," he said.
At an earlier session, speaking on partnerships, he said it is important to make sure that one does not compromise one's philosophies in the partnership process.
"It's good to understand their language, but don't lose your own language. You can translate it, but don't adopt it," he said.
In the session "jointly shaping the future", Rogerio Oliveira, country director of Yunus Social Business Brazil, said, "Our generation was taught how to make a living, instead of how to live. But the new generation is really looking for purpose instead of money. This new generation will also demand new things from companies and they will have to change."
James Chau, a journalist and UN goodwill ambassador, said, "The world is thirsting for a new global leadership. That's why it excites me that we can combine the word social with business."
In the panel “What is new in the world of social business?" young social entrepreneurs shared their experiences of initiating new social business projects to bring about sustainable change in their locality.
In order to tackle the issue of waste of one million plastic bottles from vending machines on their campus each year, five students from Japan's Kyushu University, who won the Yunus and You Contest 2014, came up with the idea of "MyBo! Next generation bottle to reduce waste". These reusable bottles can be used to get
refills on drinks from MyBo! vending machines, and are actually cheaper than drinks from regular vending machines because of significantly lower packing costs, they said.
If replicated throughout Japan, it can reduce 400 million bottles from being created and trashed, they added.
Jaume Oller from Barcelona said his company - Tandem Social — provides consultancy services to social projects and businesses to address the 50 percent youth unemployment in the city.
“Among many initiatives, we are planning to introduce the subject of social business in all universities of the city, in association with the University of Barcelona."
Zeenat Islam, a project manager of Yunus Centre, shared the success story of Yunus Centre's New Entrepreneur Project, which provides technical and financial support to children of Grameen borrower families to start up their own business.
"In one year and a half, 411 projects have been presented, of which 385 have been funded," she said.
New social businesses from Japan, France and South Africa were showcased at a session. There were also updates on social businesses operated by Yunus Social Business in Haiti, Colombia and Brazil.
Several important announcements were made during the summit including an offer of $5 million for social business from the USAID for Haiti, Albania and Uganda.
A Yunus Social Business Incubator Fund will be created in Veracruz, Mexico with the support of the Veracruz government. In addition, Cemex, a leadingglobal cement company, announced a social business in housing in Mexico.
Mexican company Es Por Todos will earmark $1 million for social business in Mexico. La Trobe University in Australia announced the creation of a Yunus Social Business Centre at their business school.
More than 700 people from 50 countries attended the summit, co-organised by Grameen Creative Lab, Green Street of Mexico and Yunus Centre.
The next edition will take place in Berlin.
On Saturday, Prof Yunus delivered a public lecture to a packed audience of 1,500 people, mostly young Mexicans, at the Expo Bancomer.
He talked about his journey from initiating microcredit in the early seventies to creating social business to tackle social problems affecting the poor and vulnerable people around the world.