Dr Yunus engages with global leaders, seeks support to bring back stolen money

During his hectic second day at the World Economic Forum (WEF) on Wednesday, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus called on Bangladesh‍‍`s international allies to aid in the recovery of substantial amounts of stolen money.

The Chief Adviser met Wolfgang Schmidt, Head of the Federal Chancellery and Federal Minister for Special Tasks, Federal Chancellery of Germany, King Philippe, King of Belgium, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Prime Minister of Thailand, Ignazio Cassis, Federal Councilor, Federal Department for Foreign Affairs, Switzerland, Sheikha Latifa Bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson, Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, United Arab Emirates, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Congo President Felix Tshisekedi, former US Secretary of State, John Kerry, and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, among others, on the sidelines of the WEF annual meeting.

The World Economic Forum is being held at the Swiss mountain town of Davos every year in January. 

Chief Adviser Prof Yunus came here about a dozen times in the past. In the past his talks featured mostly on the power of social businesses, the micro finance industry and how it was doing wonders and the Three Zeros, his great idea to fix a self-destructive civilisation.

The social businesses alone now account for ten million enterprises, representing a 2.3 trillion dollar economy.

This time Prof Yunus is here in a different role, said his Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, adding that he is now a head of the government.

"He is still one of the most sought after speakers here. But this time he rarely talks about his core ideas," Alam said, adding that Dr Yunus came with a new real life story of how young people in Bangladesh brought down a "dictator", how their ideas are creating a new Bangladesh and how the country is getting rebuilt.

The Chief Adviser urged the global leaders to send top experts, think tanks, journalists, and international organisations to Bangladesh to look into how the "plain and daylight robbery" was committed in Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasina‍‍`s "corrupt" 16-year-long rule, Chief Adviser‍‍`s Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder told UNB after the meetings.

Lutfey Siddiqi, Special Envoy to Chief Adviser, Lamiya Morshed, Principal Coordinator on SDGs Affairs (Senior Secretary); and Ambassador Tareq Md Ariful Islam, Bangladesh Permanent Representative in Geneva, were among others, present in the meetings, said Azad Majumder said.

Lutfey Siddiqi briefed German Minister Wolfgang Schmidt regarding the government’s efforts in recovering the stolen money and said that the government had formed an Asset Recovery Committee and a Taskforce headed by the Bangladesh Bank governor in this regard.

He said that the government had targeted the top 20 money launderers initially to recover their stolen money.

Highlighting the interim government’s efforts to build a corruption-free Bangladesh, Chief Adviser Prof Yunus told the German Minister, “When we talk about new Bangladesh, we also talk about clean Bangladesh.”

The Chief Adviser sought German support to this effect and also discussed potential fields of economic cooperation with the German minister.

The German minister said a new German business delegation will visit Bangladesh in April.

Professor Yunus said that Bangladesh intends to create an economic platform, also involving India, Nepal, and Bhutan, to explore the hydroelectric potential of Nepal. “Nepal is really ready to sell, and Bangladesh is a good market. It can create a lot of jobs and lessen dependence on fossil fuels,” he said.

In his meeting with the German minister and Swiss councillor, he also discussed Bangladesh‍‍`s energy security.

The Chief Adviser also discussed elaborately with Swiss Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis regarding the issues of mutual interests, including economic cooperation and climate financing.

He requested Switzerland to support Bangladesh in its carbon retention efforts in the world’s largest mangrove forest, the Sundarbans.

Dr Yunus also urged Switzerland to invest in Bangladesh to cash in on the potentials of Bangladesh’s youth, with young people under 27 years making up half the country’s population.

The Chief Adviser briefed the global leaders about the reform plans of Bangladesh‍‍`s interim government and the plan for the next general election.

In his meeting with the German minister and Swiss councillor, he also discussed Bangladesh‍‍`s energy security.

During his meeting with Belgium King Philippe and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi, the Chief Adviser was informed how a microcredit program launched by a group headed by a Belgian prince helped expand the size of tropical forest reserves in the African country.

Prince Emmanuel de Merode, whose group launched microcredit in Congolese conflict-prone areas, said the Congolese forest was now double the size of Britain after conflict microcredit created 21,000 jobs there — some 11 percent of them are former combatants. He said microcredit programs have played a big role in bringing peace to parts of the region.

The Chief Adviser also discussed with Thailand Prime Minister Shinawatra the Rohingya crisis and areas of economic cooperation, including shipping. “We want to resolve the Rohingya crisis quickly as more and more Rohingyas are coming to Bangladesh,” he said.

Shinawatra, one of the youngest Prime Ministers in the world, expressed her interest in increasing youth engagement between the two countries following the July revolution in Bangladesh.

Professor Yunus said the father of the Thai Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, was a big fan of microcredit and social businesses.

The Chief Adviser briefed the Thai premier about the Three Zero ideas, which he said aimed at rescuing a self-destructive civilisation by reducing poverty, wealth concentration, unemployment, and carbon emissions.

The Chief Adviser told Shinawatra that currently there are about 5000 Three Zero clubs in 58 countries of the world.

The Thai Prime Minister said the Bimstec summit will be held in Bangkok in April this year.

Professor Yunus said he looks forward to taking over as chairman of the Bimstec during the planned summit of the organisation.

Bimstec comprises seven countries of the Bay of Bengal region: Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand.

It pursues regional cooperation in seven broad sectors: agriculture and food security; connectivity; environment and climate change; people to people contact; science, technology and innovation; security; and trade, investment and development, said the Bimstec headquarters on Monday.

The cooperation also covers eight sub-sectors: blue economy, mountain economy, energy, disaster management, fisheries and livestock, poverty alleviation, health and human resource development.

The Chief Adviser also sought Thailand’s support for Bangladesh to become a sectoral dialogue partner of Asean and in turn become a full member of the body.