Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday said that ‘selfishness’ was a big flaw in modern economy and it should be converted to ‘selflessness.’
The concept of modern economy be change if selflessness earns its place in business, Yunus said hours after he had returned to the capital from a 21-day tour abroad.
The Nobel peace prize winner Yunus, who delivered
a lecture on social business at a city club, made the observation answering a question of former Bangladesh Bank deputy governor Ibrahim Khaled.
Khaled asked how selflessness should exist in modern business when higher profiteering was the sole aim of businessmen.
The Bangladesh MBA Association arranged the programme in honour of Yunus and Hafiz GA Siddique, who celebrated the golden jubilee of his career in business teaching.
Siddique said that if some businessmen had followed the tenet of selflessness, they could have contributed to social business. ‘This is my understanding of social business.’
Yunus, who is facing a stiff opposition from the present government nowadays, avoided saying anything when he was told that some Grameen Bank subsidiaries involved in social business in the country were not doing well.
The finance minister, Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, levelled the allegations on a number of occasions.
Yunus, in reply to another question of former finance secretary Siddiqur Rahman, said that organisations involved in social business should not enjoy tax break and other incentives.
The incentives might encourage fake businessmen to exploit social business, he said.
Yunus said that he had already given a number of proposals to global buyers to make Bangladesh’s apparel sector more complaint involving social business companies.
The proposals include a ‘happy sticker tag’ with every export item that will be certified by a selected social business company for certain fees. The fees will be spent on compliance related issues of workers, he said.
Yunus said that he had planned to introduce a garment industry transparency index imitating an industry index by the Transparency International.
He said that they were expecting to hold the first meeting with officials of the Transparency International on the proposal in August.
-With New Age input
