Nobel winner offers insight at Bimstec summit

Interim Bangladesh leader full of praise for Thai entrepreneurial spirit, writes Jitsiree Thongnoi

- Jitsiree Thongnoi

Back-to-back meetings, official as well as private, while touching base with political and business leaders in Bangkok, are what defined the schedule of Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus during his visit to Thailand on April 3-4 to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (Bimstec) summit.

But when he granted the Bangkok Post an exclusive interview hours before his scheduled departure from Thailand last week, the 84-year-old still looked upbeat and was hopeful about his present task of leading, and helping to build, a new Bangladesh.

Prof Yunus is chief adviser to the interim government of Bangladesh, a position he took in August 2024 after youth-led demonstrations toppled the Hasina government, a watershed moment critics call "Bangladesh's second Independence".

A sweeping national reform is underway in the judiciary, banking and other sectors, said Prof Yunus, under the "July Charter", a paper still being drafted and a reference to the July 2024 revolution.