Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam today spoke at a press briefing at Foreign Service Academy, Dhaka. Photo: BSS

DHAKA, Jan 26, 2024 (BSS) - Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam has said Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus’s visit to Davos was a tour of historical achievement for Bangladesh, while the chief adviser joined 43 events during the World Economic Forum (WEF). 

“The chief adviser’s tour to Davos was very important. I would say it was a tour of historical achievement for Bangladesh,” he told a press briefing at Foreign Service Academy here this evening.

Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretaries Apurba Jahangir and Abul Kalam Azad Majumder were present at the press briefing.

About the outcomes of the CA’s tour, Alam said Prof Yunus visited Switzerland from January 21 to 25 to join the World Economic Forum annual meeting in the Swiss city of Davos, a place of prestigious conferences.

Noting that close interactions between the governments and private sectors were held in Davos, he said the WEF is a place of big reunion where all social leaders and global celebrities, come to join it.

During his tour in Davos, the Chief Adviser joined a total of 47 events during the WEF annual meeting, while he held meetings with heads of government and states of some counties and gave interview to many international media outlets and joined many side events.

He said Prof Yunus held his first high-level meeting with German Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt.

Noting that Germany, the richest and powerful nation in Europe, is the second largest export destination of Bangladesh, the press secretary said during the meeting, German Chancellor expressed his all-out support to the Prof Yunus’s interim government and Bangladesh.

He said Wolfgang Schmidt told Prof Yunus that he would do everything possible for Bangladesh and would send a German business delegation to explore business potential.

“We think a new door of our business will open with Germany through it,” Alam said, adding that Wolfgang Schmidt also invited Bangladesh to join a business meet in Hamburg.   

During the Prof Yunus’s meetings with world leaders, they discussed the issue of Bangladesh economy, recovery of stolen money, Bangladesh reform agendas and elections and global issues.    

Since his arrival in Davos on January 21, Prof Yunus passed hectic days through his broader engagements with the global leaders at the annual meeting of the WEF, the press secretary said.   

The Chief Adviser held meetings with four heads of government or state, four minister level dignitaries, 10 heads or top executives of UN/similar organisation, 10 CEOs/high-level business persons, 9 WEF organised programmes (formal dinner plus lunch-04), eight media engagements and two other events.

On first day of his visit on January 21, the Chief Adviser joined seven engagements while he held a meeting with German Chancellor Wolfgang Schmidt on the sidelines of the summit.

Prof Yunus also met Timor-Leste President Jose Ramos-Horta, Munich Security Conference Chairman Ambassador Christoph Heusgen, Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi and Finland President Alexander Stubb.

On second day (January 22), he joined around 14 programmes and many side events.

The Chief Adviser held meetings with 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 Special Envoy on Climate Change John Kerry; former British Prime Minister Tony Blair; and Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; among others, at the WEF.

Prof Yunus spoke at a plenary session titled 'The State of Climate and Nature' during the summit and attended an event of Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship at a hotel in Davos.

On third day (January 23), Prof Yunus attended 14 scheduled events and many side programmes.

He held meetings with Sir Nick Clegg, President, Global Affairs at Meta Platforms Inc; Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of UAE-based global logistics provider DP World; Agnes Callamard, Secretary-General of rights group Amnesty International; Robert Maersk Uggla, Chair of Danish shipping and logistics company A.P. Moller - Maersk; and Anna Bjerde, World Bank's MD of Operations.

The Chief Adviser attended a one-on-one meeting organised by Klaus Schwab, Founder of World Economic Forum at WEF summit, while he addressed an event at the Climate Hub in Davos on the sidelines of the meeting.

On his final day in Switzerland on January 24, the chief adviser joined over seven events. American investor Ray Dalio, founder of Marino Management and Dalio Family Office called on Prof Yunus during the summit today.

Besides, Amer Alireza, Chairman of the Executive Committee, Xenel Group (Red Sea Gateway Terminal Company), met the Chief Adviser.

World Trade Organisation Director General Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala also called on Chief Adviser Prof Yunus.

Prof Yunus returned home on January 25.