Chirac hails Yunus

'By paying tribute to you, the Nobel Committee salutes a great achievement of solidarity, development and peace. It also rewards the originality, the soundness and the determination of your action to develop microfinance,' Chirac said in a letter addressing Yunus as 'dear friend'.

The honour, Chirac said, gave a new impetus to the 'exceptional tool of solidarity destined to develop more and more in the world'.

'You, the visionary 'banker of the poor', through an intelligent and generous concept founded on human dignity, have managed to combine initiative spirit and social responsibility,' the French president said.

Chirac highly appreciated Yunus for placing his priority on women development in Grameen Bank activities as 97 per cent of them benefit from it. 'This also proved to be an essential part of the success of your action.'

He said France was happy to support Yunus' action that could act for the influence of microfinance and could contribute to its development as a tool of reinsertion and struggle against exclusion.

'With my warmest esteem, my congratulations and my sincere friendship,' the letter ended with these words.