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Arriving in Yangon in the midst of the monsoon rains doesn’t feel too far from home for professor Muhammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi Nobel Laureate. The incessant seasonal showers that pour on both Myanmar and Bangladesh are just one of many things shared by the two countries.
Reminiscing later on his first and only other visit to what was then Burma in 1959, Yunus recalls the strong trade and family ties between the communities of Chittagong and Rangoon and the ease of travel between the two countries. He also recalls the similarities of dress, although there is a slight difference in pronunciation of the Myanmar ‘Longyi’ and the Bangladeshi ‘Lungyi’.
Yunus has arrived on Martyrs’ Day, which commemorates the 1947 assassination of General Aung San, the leader of the Burmese independence movement, and six of his ministers in the old parliament building in Rangoon. Yunus’ visit to Myanmar also marks another important event: his first meeting with general Aung San’s daughter and fellow Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Aung San Suu Kyi.
Yunus was in Myanmar at the invitation of the British Council to talk to leaders from government, business and civil society about maximizing the social impact of business in the country. The British Council’s social enterprise programme was launched in Myanmar at the end of 2011 and with the lifting of sanctions along with the government’s ongoing national reform strategy, interest in the role that business can play in promoting inclusive economic and social development has been steadily growing.
The thrust of the debate has so far centred around what business needs to do to behave responsibly; focusing on how to mitigate negative impacts on the natural environment and communities affected by business activities.
Social enterprise takes the discussions a stage further and challenges business to prioritise social impact over profits. This is a challenging message at a time when foreign companies are scrambling to capitalise on Asia’s ‘final frontier’. There is an opportunity that should not be missed to promote a different type of capitalism in Myanmar and avoid the path taken by its ASEAN (Association of South East Asian Nations) neighbours, which have seen economic growth in recent years but also rising inequality and increasing marginalization of vulnerable ethnic and religious groups.
Muhammad Yunus, the ‘father of micro-finance’, has pioneered the concept of social business and was awarded the Nobel peace prize for his efforts in 2006. Since then he has worked tirelessly to encourage people all over the world to adopt the approach.
Speaking to leaders from the business community at the British Council’s library in Yangon, he challenged them to think more deeply about the underlying motivation for their business activity. Many have been surprised by the results of the recently published global giving index, which positioned Myanmar as the world’s second most charitable country.
The culture of giving in Myanmar is deeply rooted, but according to Debbie Aung Din Taylor, the founder of Proximity Designs, a well-known social business in Myanmar, it has ‘been patronising towards poor people.’ By contrast, she says, ‘social businesses treat people as customers with dignity and give them choice.’ Combining Myanmar’s culture of giving with its growing global social business movement could help to build synergies between the business and development communities and ensure that the predicted economic growth is shared by all.
On his second day, Yunus was invited by the Ministry of National Planning to visit the capital Nay Pyi Taw for a dialogue with senior government officials. U Tin Naing Thein, one of the Ministers of the President’s office, opened the proceedings by emphasising the progress that his government has made in recent years to reform the economy and promote quality investment. As examples, he cited the requirement for investors to carry out social and environmental impact studies under the recently passed foreign investment law and the emphasis on corporate social responsibility by the Myanmar Investment Commission.
The role of governments in building an enabling environment for social enterprises has been growing across the ASEAN region. A recent fund to kick start the sector was announced in Malaysia. Meanwhile, in Thailand the Thai Social Enterprise Office has endeavoured for several years to facilitate the growth of social enterprise, launching a 1bn Baht (£18m) fund to raise money for social entrepreneurs.
Speaking at the Nay Pyi Taw dialogue, Peter Holbrook, the chair of the Social Enterprise World Forum and CEO of Social Enterprise UK, highlighted the growing importance of the social enterprise sector to the UK economy and the significant role that the government has played in creating an enabling environment. Holbrook emphasised the critical role that government has played in building the market by providing seed funding to support the growth of early stage social enterprises.
In the Myanmar context, where social enterprises are targeting the most marginalised communities with goods and services, there is a critical need for support to create an enabling environment in which they can thrive.
As much as it is important for governments to foster the development of the social enterprise sector, Yunus believes that the best thing a government can do, is to ‘leave people alone’, by reducing the amount of red tape and interference they face in starting social businesses and taking control of their own lives. Instead, Yunus urged government leaders in Nay Pyi Taw to ‘help young people discover their own worth and unleash their creative power,’ adding, ‘We can create a world where not a single person will be poor and we will create a “poverty museum.”’
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