The media launch for the Global Social Business Summit 2013 slated for November 7-9 has recently took place in Kuala Lumpur of Malaysia. In the media launch programme, Michael Brohm, Managing Director of The Grameen Creative Lab, gave an overview about the different aspects of the summit and the potential it has in establishing Malaysia as a hub for social business in the region. Nobel Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus addressed the media launch with a video message, said a release of Yunus Centre on Thursday. Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, Secretary General of the Treasury of Malaysia, Nurfarini Daing, Chief Executive Officer of Youth Trust Foundation myHarapan, and Faiz Arshad, Founder of Recovr, a local social business case study also joined the media launching programme on September 18. The Malaysian government is expected to announce a framework, including funding programmes designed to assist and mentor the youth in social business by the time that the Global Social Business Summit 2013 will be happening. There are plans to set up a centre where young entrepreneurs can be coached and have the opportunity to network with successful entrepreneurs, which is part of the government’s aim in becoming a global innovative entrepreneur hub. Nurfarini Daing mentioned that the social business scene in Malaysia is still quite young and in its infancy but that myHarapan is eager to develop it and will invest RM2mil in social businesses within the next 3 years. “We can start small but we want to scale local social businesses to become global champions,” she said further. It was also stressed that there is a need to get corporations on board in order to develop Malaysia sustainably by 2018. The Global Social Business Summit 2013 therefore will not only be a one-time event being held in Kuala Lumpur from November 7 to 9, but it will trigger a long-term impetus for the local social business scene and the South-East Asian region. – UNB
