Corporate | 5 March 2009 08:00
BASF SE / Joint Venture
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Social business to promote health for people in Bangladesh
- Joint venture BASF Grameen Ltd. established
- Better nutrition and protection against insect-borne disease
- Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Muhammad Yunus: 'BASF Grameen Ltd. combines
business sense with social needs'
Ludwigshafen, Germany - March 5, 2009 - BASF SE and Grameen Healthcare
Trust have announced the establishment of a joint social business venture.
Dr. Jürgen Hambrecht, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF
SE, and Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate and Managing
Director of Grameen Bank, signed an agreement in Ludwigshafen to establish
a joint venture called BASF Grameen Ltd. The purpose of the company is to
improve the health and business opportunities of the poor of Bangladesh.
BASF Grameen Ltd. will start by utilizing two products from BASF's
portfolio: dietary supplement sachets containing vitamins and
micronutrients, and impregnated mosquito nets that offer protection against
insect-borne disease.
Social commitment with an entrepreneurial twist
'Our social business joint venture is intended to empower people to take
part successfully in business life,' said Hambrecht. 'The more people who
do so - be they business partners, customers or employees - the better the
economic and social development of a country and its population. Investing
in people's entrepreneurial skills is therefore part of corporate
responsibility.' Social business is a new business model for BASF. The idea
is for a business venture to serve a social purpose, cover its own costs
and recoup the partners' initial investment. Any additional profits are
reinvested fully in the company. 'BASF Grameen Ltd. is not a charity. It
combines business sense with social needs,' stressed Yunus. According to
the WHO World Malaria Report 2008, Bangladesh had an estimated 2.9 million
cases of malaria in 2006 and 72 percent of the population is at risk of the
disease. Bangladesh also has some of the highest child and maternal
malnutrition rates according to the UNICEF State of the World's Children
Report 2008. Approximately 8 million children under the age of 5 years are
malnourished. 'In the long term, we can better help these people through a
business model that offers them beneficial products and services at
affordable prices rather than through charitable donations,' said Yunus.
Microcredits to combat malaria and malnutrition
Given the substantial need for dietary supplements and mosquito nets, BASF
and Grameen have decided to locate their joint venture with these two
products in Bangladesh. The joint venture will initially operate from the
BASF's site in Dhaka, the country's capital. Alongside an initial
investment of EUR200,000, BASF will contribute the funds for one million
sachets of vitamins and micronutrients and 100,000 mosquito nets to the
joint venture. Grameen's contribution includes its knowledge of the market,
distribution structures and networks in Bangladesh.
In the initial stages, the dietary supplement business will focus on large
consumers such as schools, and established distribution channels such as
pharmacies. This will familiarize people with the benefit of the sachets as
part of everyday nutrition and for healthy nutrition. In the medium term,
the products will also be sold directly to end users via established
Grameen networks. In towns, the impregnated mosquito nets will be sold in
food stores, clothing stores and pharmacies. In rural areas, agricultural
wholesalers will sell the malaria protection nets in association with the
Grameen network and will also instruct purchasers in their use. Grameen
Bank plans to provide microcredits to support people in setting up their
own distribution outlets and in funding the purchase of mosquito nets.
'Social business is an excellent way of creating value from values, and
BASF is seizing that opportunity,' said Hambrecht. 'Our market-oriented
joint venture will provide long-term help in addressing social challenges
in Bangladesh. In addition, it will allow BASF to explore new markets and
customer groups.' BASF is the first DAX30 company and the first chemical
company in the world to set up a social business with Grameen.
Note to editors:
You can download a photo from the BASF homepage at
www.basf.com/pressphoto-database, key word: 'BASF Group,' search term:
'BASF Grameen Ltd.'
About Grameen Healthcare Trust
Grameen Healthcare Trust (GH) aims to extend the success of the
microfinance model of Grameen Bank to health care by designing and
developing a bottom-up health care infrastructure built from sustainable
best practices in a broad range of health care services around the world,
and improving upon them to deliver the highest quality health care in an
efficient and sustainable manner for a broad market, including the poorest
of the poor. GH will enable the poor to be self sufficient in addressing
their health care needs such that they can accept. GH has a particular
focus on maternal health and childcare. In the future, GH aims to provide
services covering prenatal care, maternal health and pediatrics. The
program will also deal with anemia and malnutrition in children. GH will
set up a medical college, and a series of hospitals, nursing institutes,
rural diagnostic centers and health management centers, as part of its
broader program.
About BASF
BASF is the world's leading chemical company: The Chemical Company. Its
portfolio ranges from chemicals, plastics and performance products to
agricultural products, fine chemicals as well as oil and gas. As a reliable
partner BASF helps its customers in virtually all industries to be more
successful. With its high-value products and intelligent solutions, BASF
plays an important role in finding answers to global challenges such as
climate protection, energy efficiency, nutrition and mobility. BASF has
approximately 97,000 employees and posted sales of more than EUR62 billion
in
2008. BASF shares are traded on the stock exchanges in Frankfurt (BAS),
London (BFA) and Zurich (AN). Further information on BASF is available on
the Internet at www.basf.com.
Contact:
BASF SE
Ingrid Nienaber
Phone: +49 621 60-99123
Fax: +49 621 60-92693
ingrid.nienaber@basf.com
Grameen
Grameen Healthcare Trust
Lamiya Morshed
Phone: +880 (2) 9005257-69 Ext. 1336
Fax: +880 (2) 8013559
lamiya@grameen.com
Grameen Creative Lab
Verena Marquardt/Saskia Bruysten
Phone: +49 611 98682 -47 or -701
Fax: +49 611 98682700
verena.marquardt@circ.de
saskia.bruysten@circ.de
Ingrid Nienaber
Phone: +49 621 60-99123
Fax: +49 621 60-92693
ingrid.nienaber@basf.com
05.03.2009 Financial News transmitted by DGAP
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Language: English
Issuer: BASF SE
Carl-Bosch-Straße 38
67056 Ludwigshafen
Deutschland
Phone: +49 (0)621 60-0
Fax: +49 (0)621 60-4 25 25
E-mail: info.service@basf.com
Internet: www.basf.com
ISIN: DE0005151005, DE000A0JRFB0, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , DE000A0JRFA2, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , DE000A0JQF26, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , DE000A0EUB86, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , DE0008846718, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse,
WKN: 515 100, WKN A0JRFB, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0JRFA, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0JQF2, Börse Dublin, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN A0EUB8, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse, , WKN 884671, Frankfurter Wertpapierbörse,
Indices: DAX, EURO STOXX 50
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Berlin, Frankfurt (Prime Standard),
Hannover, Düsseldorf, Stuttgart, München, Hamburg;
Terminbörse EUREX; Foreign Exchange(s) London, SWX
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