Yunus seeks Mahathir’s support for Bangladesh’s ASEAN membership bid

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Thursday urged former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad to help Bangladesh in its bid to become a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).

He made the call during a bilateral meeting with Mahathir Mohamad leaders on the sidelines of the Nikkei Forum: 30th Future of Asia, said a statement here on Thursday.

Alongside the ASEAN membership effort, they also discussed issues of mutual interest during the 40-minute-long meeting, including the Rohingya repatriation.

Bangladesh applied to become a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN several years ago to become a full member. Malaysia is the current chair of the Southeast Asian grouping.

“We need Malaysia’s support to become an ASEAN member,” the Chief Adviser told Mahathir, who played a key role in establishing ASEAN as a powerful regional body during his time as the Malaysian Prime Minister.

The chief adviser said that Bangladesh was also thankful to Malaysia, as the country employed hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi people in the country in various sectors.

“In every village of Bangladesh, people know about Malaysia because people travel to the country for employment,” he said.

Mahathir said many Bangladeshis also established businesses in Malaysia and were doing well as entrepreneurs.

Mahathir recalled how Malaysia thrived due to his Look East policy and asked Bangladesh to undertake similar policies.

The chief adviser said that Bangladesh was also trying to increase its trade and bilateral relations with Malaysia’s neighbouring country, Indonesia, which, unlike Malaysia, is not a household name in Bangladesh.

Yunus also requested that Mahathir use his influence to resolve the Rohingya crisis and invited the former Malaysian leader to visit Bangladesh.

Mahathir said he would accept the invitation only if he were allowed by his physicians, who had restricted his travel due to his health condition.