US Secretary of State Antony Blinken today said Washington would help Bangladesh government rebuild the country, offering support in Dhaka’s effort to fight corruption and get back stolen money.
"We want to be good partners. We will make things work fast for Bangladesh," he said at a meeting with Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus at a hotel in New York
He said the US has "tremendous" respect for Prof Yunus and they admired that he took up the leadership of the country at a critical time for the nation.
During the meeting, Prof Yunus said the interim government was tasked with rebuilding the country, and he sought support from multilateral agencies such as the World Bank, the IMF, and also the USAID to fix the country's economy and its institutions.
"It has to be done very fast," he said, adding the entire population is "unified" behind his government and was looking forward to rebuilding the country as quickly as they can.
Reforms undertaken by the interim government, anti-corruption measures, repatriation of the stolen Bangladesh money stashed abroad, labour issues, trade and economic cooperation, and law and order featured the talks.
Prof Yunus said fighting corruption and improving law and order were the top priority of the government.
"The country was sunk into an ocean of corruption during the previous regime. This (fighting corruption) is my number one issue," he said.
He sought US support to get back the billions of dollars stolen from the country and siphoned off abroad by individuals linked with the previous regime.
"It is a huge amount of money. Unbelievable!!" he said, referring to the laundered assets.
Blinken offered the US government's support in this regard. "We are happy to help," he said.
"We have a lot of expertise in dealing with endemic corruption," he added.
The chief adviser said improving labour standards was one of the government's top goals, as this would pave the way for more foreign direct investment in the country.
Blinken said the US is the largest source of foreign investment in Bangladesh, and he hoped it would grow in the coming years.
They also discussed the UN fact finding mission investigating atrocities during the July-August uprising and media freedom.
Prof Yunus said his government has upheld freedom of speech and freedom of press. He said he has asked the media to criticise them "as best as they can".
He said the government is committed to maintaining racial harmony in the country.
"All Bangladesh is a big family. We have differences. But we are not enemies," he said.
The two leaders also discussed the Rohingya crisis, with the chief adviser seeking support for hundreds of thousands of young Rohingya children growing up in the camps of Bangladesh.
