Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus addressed the inaugural session of the Bangladesh Investment Summit-2025 at the Hotel Intercontinental today. Photo : PID

DHAKA, April 9, 2025 (BSS) - Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today urged the global investors to come up with their business in Bangladesh to change the world saying Bangladesh is the best place for investment.

"Bangladesh is a country with crazy ideas to change the world...so we invite you to join that craft not only to change Bangladesh by your business but to change the world," he said while addressing the inaugural session of Bangladesh Investment Summit-2025 at Hotel Intercontinental here.

Bangladesh Investment Development Authority (BIDA) organised the summit.

Prof Yunus said: "If you want to make a business with a purpose, along with the business we do, Bangladesh is the place."

About how people become happy by doing business, the chief adviser said making money, of course, is happiness but making other people happy is a super happiness.

"If you have a business in Bangladesh, you will get happiness and super happiness. You will be proud of what you have done," he added.

Prof Yunus said he does not look at Bangladesh alone but looks at the whole region with powerful resources, stressing the need for earning money together and changing the lives of people together.

"Each of your companies can enjoy that super happiness by expending and reaching out the impacts (to people)," he said.

The chief adviser said the business can be the powerful mechanism to change the world, emphasising creation of a new civilisation. 

"I underscore by saying we can create a world of 'Three Zeros'. It can be done with the business, not by the government. The government cannot achieve that," he said, adding that it is not the function of the governments but it is the function of individuals - human beings.

"We are human beings. We can change the world," he said.

Noting that the business has given a big power tool on the people's hands, the chief adviser said new civilization will be such a civilization where there will be no carbon emission. 

Terming the carbon emission a self-destructive system, he stressed no wealth concentration, saying it is fun to make money but wealth concentration is the most dangerous thing to the human being. "It will destroy the whole world."

He also focused on zero unemployment at the summit, saying the young generation can change the world as they have technology and innovative ideas.

Prof Yunus said young people get excited about zero unemployment because all are entrepreneurs, not job seekers. 

"Think like an entrepreneur. Make things happen. And Bangladesh is a place to see that," he said. 

About the flourishing of the garment industry in Bangladesh, the Chief Adviser said Bangladesh was a country of farmers, landless farmers. 

"We didn't have any land, much land...only in the 70s, early 60s maybe. Some crazy young guys from the universities dared to enter into something which is happening in the country because of the business interest of other countries, the garment industry. They said, why not us?" 

The crazy young guys began the journey of garment industry in Bangladesh, he said. 

About the journey of microcredit in the USA, its founder said business in Bangladesh is not for Bangladesh only but it could be for the whole world. 

Whoever through that microcredit, which was started in a little village, now would become a prime business in the United States, he said, adding it is "Grameen America". 

Prof Yunus said millions of women take money from Grameen America with loan size less than $ 1,000, while Grameen America is growing very fast in the US. 

"So, little things in that sense - the Bangladesh's ground is very fertile. Put a little bit seeds, it becomes global," he said, welcoming "all to join us to that mission - creating a new world." 

Recalling the Bangladesh's independence in 1971, the Chief Adviser got emotional saying the 1974 is a year that "we cannot forget" as about 1.5 million people died in a famine. 

That time, he said, the population of the country was farmers and most of them were landless ones, while they used to grow a single crop. 
From such a position, Bangladesh started its journey and it came a long way in 2025, he said. 

"It's an amazing journey...that Bangladesh came a long way in a very short time," Prof Yunus said. 

He also focused on the contribution of Grameen Bank and Grameenphone to eradicating poverty in Bangladesh. 
The Chief Adviser said about 100,000 poor women were selling mobile-phone services using Grameenphone, which helped them overcome their poverty. 

Baroness Rosie Winterton, UK's Trade Envoy to Bangladesh; Oscar Garca Maceiras, CEO of Inditex; and Apex Footwear Limited Managing Director Syed Nasim Manzur spoke to express their views on the investment front. 
BIDA Executive Chairman Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun presented the business and investment potential of Bangladesh.
 
Lutfey Siddiqi, Chief Adviser's Special Envoy on International Affairs, moderated the function. 

The four-day summit began on April 7 showcasing the country's evolving investment opportunities and economic reforms. 

The summit is being held to showcase Bangladesh's investment potential, highlight the economic reforms following the July revolution, and create long-term investment pipelines for sustainable economic growth. 

Investors from around the world, top business executives and policymakers were present.