President Ma Ying-jeou met on the morning of August 15 with international trend expert and 2006 Nobel Peace Prize winner Dr. Muhammad Yunus. The president expressed his admiration for Dr. Yunus’ founding of the Grameen Bank, and promotion of the concept of "social business." President Ma, on behalf of the government and people of the ROC, also extended a cordial welcome to Dr. Yunus, who has been invited to Taiwan to deliver an address.
In remarks, the president noted that Dr. Yunus founded Grameen Bank, which provides not-for-profit microcredit to help underprivileged people create enterprises. This initiative has helped countless people emerge from poverty and has won him accolades and honors the world over, the president said. Dr. Yunus, he pointed out, was awarded the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize and has received honorary degrees from over 50 universities in 20 countries throughout the globe. He also has been decorated with honors from 10 countries, including the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and the US Congressional Gold Medal.
President Ma stated that Grameen Bank utilizes funds to provide assistance to people who are truly in need. In the process, the president said, the bank not only provides fish, but also teaches people how to fish. The micro-lending promoted by the bank has inspired new ways of thinking and acting in many countries, the president commented. In particular, the "social business" concept promoted by Dr. Yunus, he said, is an enormous step forward. In contrast to the radical methods embraced by communist Marxism in the past, social business employs pragmatic and gradual methods to effectively help the poor emerge from poverty. This is the main reason that Dr. Yunus' work is so highly regarded throughout the world, he added.
The president told Dr. Yunus that quite a few steps taken by the ROC over the past 60 years in the course of its economic development are similar to what Dr. Yunus has called for. For instance, to make it easier for local governments to provide publicly backed loans to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), he said the government introduced a program a few years ago under which local governments and the Small and Medium Business Credit Guarantee Fund (SMEG) each provide part of the funding for SME loan guarantees. This program has enabled the SMES to obtain the finance they need. To date, about NT$1 billion worth of financing has been provided, and this mechanism has been enthusiastically received by the nation's SMEs, the president stated.
President Ma also mentioned that in the wake of the financial tsunami, countries throughout the world in recent years have been working to eradicate poverty. Taiwan, he said, is also striving to reduce the wealth gap, noting that the gap between rich and poor here is one of the smallest in the Asia-Pacific region. The government, however, is still actively promoting a host of social welfare measures to create jobs with the hope that everyone can share in the fruits of economic development. The president stated that this will further reduce the wealth gap and help the ROC achieve the objective of equal distribution of wealth, which is set forth in the Constitution.
Dr. Yunus was accompanied to the Presidential Office by Vice Minister of Economic Affairs Cho Shih-chao (卓士昭) to meet President Ma. Also attending the meeting was National Security Council Advisor Francis Yi-Hua Kan (甘逸驊).