Daily Star- Star Business Report

Martin Hirsch, French high commissioner for active solidarity against poverty, has said the concept of 'social business' should be disseminated worldwide to alleviate poverty.

"We have learned lots of things from Bangladesh, which will help us disseminate the idea to France and the rest of Europe," said Hirsch after visiting the social business activities of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.

Hirsch made the comments at a dinner hosted by Yunus Centre at Heritage Restaurant in Dhaka on Sunday. Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus also attended the dinner.

Big French companies likely to invest: French minister
New Age -Diplomatic Correspondent

Big French investors are likely to make more investments in social businesses along with other businesses in Bangladesh to enable it to fight poverty as the political situation and the conditions for attracting foreign investment are good, said the French minister, Martin Hirsch, in Dhaka on Monday.

The Times of India

Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus has called on South Asian countries to set aside their differences and build a common political and economic entity, along the lines of the current European Union, by 2030. Such a union, according to Yunus, should allow free movement of goods and people and have common elements of foreign policy. It would make national boundaries porous, curtail excessive nationalism and, in the process, reduce cross-border tensions. It's not only possible to realise this vision, it's needed to solve most of South Asia's problems.

Social Business - A Step Toward Creating a New Economic and Social Order

Professor Muhammad Yunus
Grameen Bank, Bangladesh

Lecture delivered at the joint-meeting of the members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha of India, in Delhi on December 9, 2009

Hon'ble Vice President, Hon'ble Prime Minister of India, Hon'ble Speaker of the Lok Sabha, Hon'ble Members of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is a great honor and privilege for me to deliver the second Annual Memorial Parliamentary Lecture in honor of the formidable academician and parliamentarian, Professor Hirendranath Mukerjee. I am very proud to pay my respects to an individual whose commitment to social justice spanned over 60 years, until his death in 2004.

Microcredit loans have revolutionized the world of finance in developing nations. Now Muhammad Yunus, the Nobel Peace Prize laureate behind the concept, wants to see similar programs in the industrialized world. In a SPIEGEL ONLINE interview, he explains why Germany's poor should be given loans.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Yunus, you provide microcredit to people in developing countries through the Grameen Bank. Is a similar program required in Germany?