Keynote

Mr. Dipal C. Barua the current Deputy Managing Director of Grameen Bank has been with Grameen Bank since its inception when it started as an action research project in 1976. He is one of the core builders of Grameen Bank, now occupying the number two position in the bank . Grameen Bank is one of the first organization in the world to promote the concept that credit is a human right and that every human being has the inherent capacity to become a contributing member of his or her society. Professor Muhamad Yunus and Grameen Bank received the Nobel Peace Prize in 2006 for its contribution to poverty reduction and peace. He has a Master Degree in Economics from Chittagong University. He was a student of Professor Yunus. He took part in the "Rural Development Project" as research fellow from 1974 to 1978 and in the "Jobra Tevhaga Khamar" as a research assistant and coordinator under the supervision of Professor Yunus. This action research project eventually became Grameen Bank. He was also a key staff of Grameen Bank when it was transformed in to specialized banking institution. He is also one of the driving force in expanding renewable energy technologies in Bangladesh. He is the Founding Managing Director of Grameen Shakti, which is one of the most successful rural based renewable energy companies in the world. He has shown through Grameen Shakti that solar PV technology can be successfully implemented on a mass scale to provide rural people with climate friendly energy, light, income and health. Under his leadership , around 200,000 Solar Home Systems have been installed as of August 2008 with over 8000 systems installed per month . Grameen Shakti plans to install one million systems by 2010 - the target has been moved forward from 2015 because of the accelerating demand of solar home systems. Grameen Shakti and Mr, Barua has received many national and international awards including Right Livelihood Award in 2007 and Ashden Outstanding Achievement Award in 2008.