Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Friday acknowledged the vital role of Bangladeshi expatriates in nation-building, saying that their contributions have been instrumental in helping Bangladesh rise from a state of devastation after last year’s student-led mass uprising.
"It is the expatriates who help sustain the country (by sending their remittances in hard times)," he said while speaking at a community reception hosted by the Bangladesh Embassy in Tokyo, held at Bangladesh House.
Prof Yunus said the ousted government had left the state exchequer and banks empty, and without the support of expatriates, Bangladesh would not have been able to recover.
“Bangladesh would not have turned around if you did send remittance,” he told the Bangladeshi expatiates living in Japan.
He urged the expatriates to continue their role in strengthening the efforts to build a new Bangladesh.
Later, three exchanges of notes were signed, respectively on the development policy loan for economic reform and strengthening climate change resilience ($418 million), the loan for the Joydebpur-Ishwardi dual-gauge double-lane railway project ($641 million) and the grant for the human development scholarship ($4.2 million).
Bangladeshi Ambassador to Japan Md Daud Ali and Japanese Ambassador to Bangladesh Shinichi Saida signed the agreements on behalf of the respective sides.
Chief Adviser Prof Yunus witnessed the signing of the exchange of notes.
Later, he joined a dinner hosted in his honour by the Bangladeshi Ambassador to Japan.
