Bangladesh – The Social Business Nation - open source property asserted by The Social Busienss Action Team - Q&A welcomed by team - chris.macrae @yahoo.co.uk
How Can Social Business Nations Save the World’s Economy and Societies?
In 1976 when the economics editor of The Economist shocked his audiences by predicting there was a missing system design without which globalisation would be exponentially unsustainable (Entrepreneurial Revolution, 25 Dec 1976), a five year old nation’s leading entrepreneurs were busily proof-testing the missing system of sustainability, also known by world class brands advisers as the world’s greatest invention.
The first application of the missing system design to have made progress in freeing a global market to value its sustainability’s exponential is microcredit (market – banking and sustainability investment including a nation’s competitive advantage through time).
Muhammad Yunus who has done most to take his nation’s gift to the world calls the missing system design Social Business. This is what he said in his Nobel acceptance speech 2006:
“Almost all social and economic problems of the world will be addressed through social businesses. The challenge is to innovate business models and apply them to produce desired social results cost-effectively and efficiently. Healthcare for the poor, financial services for the poor, information technology for the poor, education and training for the poor, marketing for the poor, renewable energy ? these are all exciting areas for social businesses.
Social business is important because it addresses very vital concerns of mankind. It can change the lives of the bottom 60 per cent of world population and help them to get out of poverty.”
Cut to what Bill Clinton said in interview with Charlie Rose’s USA public broadcast show in February 2008:
“Microfinance is almost universally effective where its based on the same model that Bangladesh have used – that is where you are dealing with people who do not know how to read a balance sheet but they have a good reputation in the community, and they’ve got a skill
In the 1980s the South Shore Bank of Chicago now called Shorebank started making microcredit loans by America standards to black carpenters and Croatian electricians to work together to retrieve the South Side. Hilary found out about this and she went out to raise the money for a rural microcredit in Arkansas withy the same thing, the same results, it still in place ...it always works.
Now can it make a difference? It depends whether they are concentrated. I think in Bangladesh the Grameen Bank and others having been lending money for r 30 years, the volume of loans is so great now that it is making a measurable contribution to the economy. My evidence for this is that in the last couple of years Bangladesh has had one crisis after another –the kind of thing that tanks the stockmarkets. But in spite of all this trouble their economy is still continuing to grow about 6% or 7% a year. Unheard of- I think its because its coming from the grassroots through the interlocking networks of microentrepreneurs.”
Today a fast increasing list of regions are benchmarking social business with Dr Yunus and Global Grameen’s partners in branding sustainability. These include:
The Governor of Caldas, Columbia
The Nation of Albania.
The Mayor of Milan
The California Institute of Social Business chaired out of the California State University of the Channel Isles
Moscow City Hall
RSVP info@worldcitizen.tv if you have a sighting from your region
Here is a 2006 extract from Nobel Dr Yunus’ suggested national strategy for Bangladesh – Growing Up with 2 Giants:
LUCKY TO HAVE 2 GIANTS AS OUR NEIGHBOURS
India and China are almost there. They have already reached 8% growth rate & under 25% poverty level. They are becoming such political and economic powers that the whole world is gathering around them. Bangladesh is lucky to have 2 globally sought-after giants as her neighbours.. When our giant neighbours bring the whole business world to their door-steps, our doorsteps come very near to the business world. They come to us easily because of having important neighbours. If we play our cards right out economy can pick up he speed of our neighbors.
The future of Bangladesh lies in being an open door, open arm country. Let’s build everything in Bangladesh so Bangladesh becomes the natural first choice of hard-nosed investors and traders. Let Bangladesh be Bangladesh international. Let’s envision Bangladesh as the info technology, industrial and trading crossroads of the region if not the world.
Bangladesh has a very young population – half of us are under 20. A way to make all children, poor or rich, boy or girl, urban or rural feel equal is to ensure access to computer, mobiles and internet. The world these young people create will be the world of innovative ideas. Old resistance to new ideas will crumble away. Ideas will chase ideas. Seekers of ideas will sift through mountains of ideas to get to the ones they are looking for. Unlike in old times, ideas and innovations will no longer remain unknown. Creativity in every direction will be rewarded more than anything else.
Bangladesh is enormously respected for being the birthplace of microcredit. Every country in the world feels the need for microcredit. Microcredit is studied in academic in situations, discussed in meetings, conferences and workshops. They all pay respect to Bangladesh for being the originator country. Bangladesh , microcredit, Grameen have become synonymous in the minds of people around the world.
Bangladesh is also remembered as the country which gave the world oral saline to combat diarrhea. Bangladesh has earned respectability by demonstrating skill and efficiency in disaster management. World media publicly suggested that Tsunami affected counties and the USA, after devastating Katrina, should learn from Bangladesh in disaster management.
The list of our accomplishments is long and impressive. We notice the admiring eyes of international delegates focused on Bangladeshi delegates when we attend international conferences – be it microcredit, disaster management, heath, education, renewable energy., environment, women empowerment or child labour.
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