Joint Venture With Japan’s Leading Clothing Retail Uniqlo
Uniqlo Social Business Bangladesh Ltd.- the social business division of Uniqlo, Japan's leading clothing retailer, signed a joint venture agreement today with Grameen Healthcare Trust to establish a new social business in the field of functional clothing, with a focus on healthcare. The joint venture aims to produce high quality clothing and other products for the poor population in Bangladesh for domestic consumption. Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chairman of Grameen Healthcare Trust, and Mr. Yukihiro Nitta, Managing Director of Uniqlo Social Business Bangladesh, Ltd. signed the agreement during a ceremony at Grameen Headquarters today.
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed with the Yunus Centre in July of this year. The joint venture company will be called Grameen Uniqlo. It will function as a social business, in which the company returns the principal amount to the investors, but nothing beyond that. Grameen Uniqlo is currently conducting test marketing in Tangail and Gazipur.
The objective of this social business joint venture will be to improve people's daily lives by offering high-quality products at affordable prices, which can help to alleviate health and sanitation problems and provide educational opportunities for the poor. The company will also commit to create employment opportunities for Bangladesh's most economically disadvantaged citizens by providing a platform from which they can achieve independence as entrepreneurs.
"We are delighted to partner with Uniqlo to create a social business in clothing. This will start with functional clothing distribution and reusable sanitary napkins, but we hope to expand our services in future" said Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus, Chairman of Grameen Healthcare Trust.
Grameen Healthcare Trust (GHT) is a not for profit organization established under Trust Act of Bangladesh. GHT was established with goal of helping to develop the health sector in Bangladesh especially to fulfill the unmet need for health care services to the low-income group in the rural Bangladesh.
Uniqlo is a subsidiary of Fast Retailing, Co. a leading Japanese retail renowned for its strategic focus on innovation - in production, in quality control, and in distribution.
