Six more social business projects approved for funding

The Social Business Design Lab yesterday approved six projects for investment at the 37th edition of the initiative of Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus at Grameen Bank building in Dhaka.

Five of the six business projects presented at the lab came from new entrepreneurs, who are the children of Grameen Bank borrowers, Yunus Centre said in a statement.

The five projects are: Ma Pet Loom House of Aminul Haque, a business producing variety of mats; Borhan Traders by Borhan Uddin for trading in groceries; Rizu Cosmetics by Dulal Kumar, a business to sell cosmetics; Maa Refrigeration Workshop by Sheikh Taslim Uddin; and Hasan Quail Bird Hatchery by Rafiqul Islam.

Social Business Centre, Chittagong sent Crescent Fisheries & Agro Project to the design lab for evaluation. The project aims to expand scientific aqua culture practice in Patiya.

The port city centre will finance the project, according to the statement.

Grameen Kalyan and two young enterprises signed two memoranda of understanding at the end of the day.

About 150 participants and observers from national and international organisations, including Cecep Effendi, director general of the Centre on Integrated Rural Development for Asia and the Pacific; a team of American cultural ambassadors, the German Society for International Cooperation or GIZ, the Centre for Rehabilitation for the Paralysed, Queen's University of Canada and Japan International Cooperation Agency, attended the event.

Participants from different universities at home and abroad, including a group of 34 students from South-East University, also took part in the event.

There were also participants from Canada, Malaysia, India, Japan, Albania and Italy, according to the statement.

Since the launch of the lab in January this year, 418 of the 443 social business projects presented in 36 design labs have been approved for investment, most of which are in operation now, Prof Yunus said while giving updates of the lab. He thanked the participants for the innovative social businesses. He said it is exciting that so many ideas are now a reality, and the young entrepreneurs are generating employment for others, which is a valuable contribution to the economy.

The next design lab will be held on 20 December, Yunus Centre said.