The 9th Global Social Business Summit (GSBS) took place at Autostadt GmbH, Stadtbrücke in Wolfsburg, Germany on 8th and 9th of November 2018. A nine-member representative team from Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT), led by its MD Ms. Parveen Mahmud and CEO Mr. Md. Ashraful Hassan, participated in the summit. The other participants from GTT were Ms. Salma Khan, Trustee; Mr. Sultan Ahmed Bhuiyan, CFO & Board Secretary; Mr. Jayanta Kumer Bosu, Team Leader, Social Business (SB); Angela Malakar, Deputy Co-ordinator, SB; and Mohammad Sadmani Iqbal, Senior Officer, HR & Admin. Two Executive Directors of Social Business partners under Social Business Learning and Innovation Fund (SBLIF) Mr. Rasel Ahmed Liton, SKS Foundation and Mr. Mohammad Golam Mostofa, SDRS also attended GSBS 2018.
On the first day of GSBS 2018, Ms. Parveen Mahmud participated in the opening plenary session ‘Smart & Social: Future of Mobility and Social Business’ with Prof. Muhammad Yunus which was moderated by Hans Reitz, CEO of The Grameen Creative Lab. She discussed the variations of mobility in Bangladesh and also showcased how Social Business can play a major role in mobility from Bangladesh perspective. She also participated in a parallel session where she explained Social Business Learning and Innovation Fund (SBLIF), a unique fund of GTT and responded to a number of queries from the audience.
Mr. Md. Ashraful Hassan, CEO of GTT, participated in the plenary session named ‘Plastic & Circular Economy’ where he discussed environmental issue of Bangladesh and highlighted the pollution and solution of the river Jamuna.
Before the GSBS main event, 7th Social Business Academia Conference also took place at the same venue on November 6 and 7, 2018. Ms. Mahmud presented a paper named ‘Role of Social Business in Women Entrepreneurship Development in Bangladesh: Perspectives from Grameen Telecom Trust (GTT)’ which she co-authored with Dr. Farhana Ferdousi, Assistant Professor, Southeast University.
