Yunus addresses social business meetings in Canada

Nobel laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus suggested that some part of development aid could be exclusively devoted to financing social business initiatives or sustainable enterprises that address social needs while unleashing the creative energies of communities.

The Bangladesh economist made the call in an hour-long meeting with Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau on Friday.

Yunus also attended a number of meetings on social business and microcredit in Canada last week.

The Nobel laureate and Morneau discussed development strategies, including the role of social business, said Yunus Centre in Dhaka yesterday.

They talked in particular about Yunus Social Business initiatives in Haiti and Africa where funds have been created to support social businesses.

The two also discussed developing entrepreneurship programmes for aboriginal communities in Canada and engaging the unemployed youth in those communities in order to create enterprises that will bring income for

themselves and generate jobs for others.

Morneau also talked about prospects of big Canadian companies operating in poor countries to create social businesses to help overcome problems confronting the host countries.

Earlier in Ottawa, Prof Yunus addressed the One Young World Summit attended by some 1,300 delegates between the ages of 18 and 30 from 196 different countries.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spoke at the opening ceremony of the event.

In Toronto, Prof Yunus was a chief guest of the Toronto International Microfinance Summit and delivered a keynote address at a gathering of 150 participants made up of microfinance practitioners, business persons and academics, among others.