The Ninth Social Business Day concluded on Saturday in Bangkok with a call to tap into the power of creativity of the youth for solving social problems.
In his concluding remark, Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus said creativity is inborn and it runs deep within the younger generation. But they padlock their ingenuity as they have acclimatised themselves to the 9 to 5 working condition.
In his speech, Yunus also disapproves economics as a social science discipline. Because, according to him, the ‘social’ dimension is missing from this science.
He urged the young people to shun the premeditated structure of economics theory, and instead make the most of their creativity to overcome social challenges.
Suphachai Chearavanont, chief executive officer of Charoen Pokphand Group, delivered the closing speech where he proposed 5Rs policy -- Re-educate, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Reinvent -- to prevent environmental degradation.
Earlier, at a plenary session on challenges of social business speakers identified the hurdles of social business that entrepreneurs face and discussed ways to address them properly.
Taking part in the discussion, Parveen Mahmud, managing director of Grameen Telecom Trust, said several challenges exist in social business, but they can be addressed if everybody works together.
The concept of Social business is developed by Muhammd Yunus to address social problems. The business model allows investors to recoup their original investment but compels them to reinvest the profit to continue and expand the business.
The official conclusion of the conference was marked by a cultural programme.
A number of sideline events, however, took place after the formal ending of Ninth Social Business Day.
Yunus Centre at the Asian Institute of Technology (YCA) in Thailand hosted the annual event in Bangkok this year. The event was supported by Yunus Social Business Centre Kasetsart University (YSBCKU) and Thailand Social Business Initiative (TSBI).
Some 1,500 delegates from all over the world in the field of social business, along with icons of social innovation and entrepreneurship from 59 countries, including Antarctica, attended the conference.
