"Social business is our future, social business is for saving humanity and the planet" - Mayor Ann Hidalgo of Paris
Press Release (11 November 2017)
Official launch of Les Canaux, the social business house, by Mayor Ann Hidalgo of Paris and Professor Yunus this evening. Les Canaux is dedicated to supporting social business in Paris. Nicolas Hulot the Environment Minister of France was chief guest at the event. The inauguration event included a visit and launch of the Yunus Centre office in Les Canaux. Photo Credit: Nasir Ali Mamun/Yunus Centre
Mayor Ann Hidalgo and Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus together officially launched Social Business House Les Canaux on Thursday November 9. The Mayor had announced last year in a press conference held jointly with Prefessor Yunus that the historical building Les Cannaux will be dedicated to become the the home of social business and the social economy for Paris. During the launching ceremony Deputy Prime Minister of France and Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot was the chief guest.
A group of dignatories was given a guided tour of the facilities of the social business house which has been refurbished over several months. The house, which is located in the 19th district of Paris has been refurbished where all its decor, carpets, furniture and fittings are made from recycled materials notably ocean plastic, waste paper, and waste wood.
The Deputy Prime Minister, the Mayor, the Grand Duchess of Luxembourg, the Deputy Mayor of Paris, Professor Yunus and other dignitaries were given a guided tour of the facilities. They also opened the newly established Yunus Centre Paris which is located in the building. Mayor Hidalgo had invited Professor Yunus to set up Yunus Centre Paris in Les Canaux when they first met in July 2016 during the Rio Olympics. That office has now been set up and Yunus Centre Paris is now a registered legal entity in the city.
At the end of the tour, the Mayor and Professor Yunus spoke at the event. Mayor Hidalgo declared that she is committed to social buisness and she wants to make Paris as the social business capital of the world and turn Paris as the social business city . Mr Hulot, the Deputy Prime Minister in his speech highlighted that social business and the work that Les Canaux has set for itself is the most powerful way to move forward. The Mayor emphasized that social business is the future of the world. It is the future of humanity, it is the future of the planet. She said that the present system is not sustainable. Professor Yunus in his remarks said that the social business is like a bug, a friendly bug that infects everyone who comes in.contact with it, because selflessness exists in every human beings. Once a person is introduced to social business he wants to do more and more of it.
