|
| POSTED BY: Lucy on 02/09/2008 10:35:27 |
|
Nobel laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus has urged the Information
Technology (IT) designers to develop affordable IT devices for the
poor so they could use those for their own economic development.
"The information technology could play a vital role in changing the
fate of the poor around the world dramatically. If the IT devices are
developed at a price that are affordable by the poor, they would be
important tools for eradicating poverty," he said.
The Nobel laureate was addressing as the key speaker at the Microsoft
Government Leaders Forum Asia organised by Microsoft Corporation in
China yesterday, according to a message received here.
Prof Yunus and Microsoft giant Bill Gates jointly presented a keynote
paper at the forum.
The Grameen Bank chief also focussed on the potential of social
business to tackle the unsolved problems of the world.
Yunus and Bill Gates participated in a question and answer session
where they talked about the potential of IT to eradicate poverty and
the ways to address education, health, climate change and other
challenges facing mankind.
In Beijing, Yunus also had a meeting with the deputy governor of the
People's Bank of China to discuss the next steps in the establishment
of a Grameen Trust-run micro-credit program in China.
Last year, the People's Bank of China had invited Grameen Trust to
start a micro-credit programme in Sichuan Province Grameen Trust with
its Chinese partner organisation, CICETE, is going to launch a
Grameen micro-credit company to provide much needed financial
services for the poor in Sichuan. Leaders of the Micro-credit
Association of China were present at the meeting.
Prof Yunus also addressed a micro-finance conference jointly
organised by the People's Bank of China (PBC) and the Asian
Development Bank.
- Bss, Dhaka
|
