Dr Yunus meets top global leaders, seeks support to return stolen assets

Bangladesh Wednesday sought support from foreign friends to bring back hundreds of billions of stolen money as chief adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus spent a busy day at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

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; Co0ngo President Felix Tshisekedi, Former US special envoy on climate change, John Kerry, and former British prime minister Tony Blair, among others, on his second day at the WEF.

Chief adviser's Deputy Press Secretary Abul Kalam Azad Majumder briefed reporters about the outcomes of the meetings.

Chief adviser Dr. Yunus urged the global leaders to send top experts, think tanks, journalists, and international organisations to Bangladesh to dig into how the plain and daylight robbery was committed in Bangladesh during Sheikh Hasina's corrupt 16-year-long rule.

Lutfey Siddiqi, special envoy to chief adviser; Lamiya Morshed, principal secretary on SDG affairs; and Tareq Ariful Islam, Bangladesh permanent representative in Geneva; were among others present at the meetings.

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

He said 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 Dr. 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.

Dr. Yunus said 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.

The chief adviser also discussed the issues of mutual interests, including economic cooperation and climate financing with Swiss Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis.

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

He 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 programme 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 per cent of them are former combatants.

He said microcredit programmes 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,” said the chief adviser.

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.

Dr. 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 prime minister about the Three Zero ideas, which he said aimed at rescuing a self-destructive civilisation by reducing poverty, wealth concentration, unemployment, and carbon emissions.

Dr. Yunus 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.

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

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.

Chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus has also sought the assistance of the European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde to recover billions of dollars stolen from Bangladesh during the Awami League regime.

The two dignitaries met in Davos on Wednesday on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum annual meeting.

Prof Yunus told Christine Lagarde, also a former chief of the IMF that some US$ 17 billion alone were taken out from the country's banking sector by oligarchs close to the dictatorship, and US$ 16 billion were siphoned off annually during the 15 years of ousted Hasina regime.

"It was a massive highway robbery," Prof Yunus said, adding the oligarchs first took over banks and then took loans, which they never paid back.

Lagarde said she would support the Interim Government's move to recover the money, and she recommended that Bangladesh should also take help from the IMF to recover and send   the money back home.

During the talks, they also discussed the July uprising and Bangladesh's reform initiatives.

Lagarde also voiced her support for Bangladeshi educational institutions.

Lamiya Morshed, the SDG coordinator of the Bangladesh government, and Tareq Ariful Islam, Bangladesh permanent envoy in Geneva, also joined the meeting.