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Invest in Bangladesh under a changed perspective with a twin goal of making profit and benefiting society at large, Chief Adviser Dr Muhammad Yunus says in a clarion call to global entrepreneurs.
While inviting investors from across the world in his address to the inaugural session of the Bangladesh Investment Summit 2025 in Dhaka on Wednesday, he mentioned as a special feature of human capital that people of Bangladesh are full of 'crazy ideas' and such creative craze can transform the world.
"I keep reminding people, yes, you want to make profit. Go ahead. Make profit, maximise as much as you can, but we can add a little piece into it, social purpose," the Nobel-laureate economist-turned ruler, who propounds 'social business'," told his audience.
"You don't have to get disrupted by that…You have fun, like many of you do already. So if you want to make a business with a purpose, along with the business that we do, Bangladesh is the place."
He said making money is happiness, but making other people happy is a super happiness. "If you have business in Bangladesh, you will have bought happiness and super happiness. That you get extra with no cost, you'll be proud of what you have done."Highlighting the geographical advantage of the country he tells investors not to look at Bangladesh alone. It is only one piece of the economy. But it offers a vista of the whole region, "very powerful region," with lots of resources.
"We work together, facilitate each other," he said, adding that they can do business and earn money, but changing the life of the people together is a "fun, it is something that immeasurable", and each of their companies can enjoy that super happiness by expanding and reaching out. The impact that they make, they never explored.
"Just a little opening, just a magic changes the world. Business can be the most powerful mechanism by which we can change the world, but we are trained to focus on some so narrow thing. We miss out the world."
The head of interim government makes it clear that government cannot achieve that, it's just not the function of the government but is the function of individuals, human beings.
He notes that humans can change the world. And business gives a big, powerful tool to do that. "Then the new civilization should be a civilization where there will be no carbon emission… All we have to do just pay attention to that side."
Presenting the changed Bangladesh -- following the August changeover that brought his government to the helm -- he told the function that it is a country where most people were farmers transformed itself through the vision of 'some crazy young guys from the universities' who dared to enter into something new like garment industry.
And this first-generation entrepreneurs are followed by the second generation, and a third generation is coming up for which the country needs to be prepared.
This third generation - little bigger boys and girls- will change the world. They have the technology, they have the creativity, and innovativeness in problem-solving ideas.
Addressing the third generation he said, "You can get together, gather together, and talk about creating that world. It's not just business in a limited idea, which is good, but you can have another space remaining unutilized. Let's use this too. In Bangladesh, the business is not only for Bangladesh…It could be for the whole world."
Turning to his career goal as banker to the poor, the microcredit pioneer said, "Whoever thought that my concept of Grameen Bank which was started in a tiny, little village now would be a prime business in the United States."
He said Grameen America in the USA and millions of women take money from German America which has an annual turnover of $2 billion.
"In the next four years, it will be $5 billion a year. It is growing very fast."
Prof Yunus praised Youngone Chairman Kihak Sung, who was conferred honorary citizenship of Bangladesh in the session for his immense contribution to Bangladesh.
"He has love for Bangladesh, he loves its people and its nature."
In an emotion-choked voice he recalls the famines of 1974, when, he said, over one and half million people died out of hunger.
"The year we cannot forget. So that was the country we started with."
Terming the journey from 1974 to 2025 amazing, he notes that Bangladesh has managed to transform itself from that difficult situation as despite having the same land, the country now provides the food for a population bigger three times.
"We used to grow one crop. We didn't know any other way. Our people were known as farmers, because they have no other profession. And of them, three-fourths were landless farmers," he says narrating the state of the country in the early 70s.
"Now we talk about big industries and so on, now we are so many countries to set up more industries, talk about the big market," he said, adding: "Bangladesh came a long way in a very short time."
He said looking at the plight of the people round during the famine time he came out with the idea of lending "money, tiny little money- $2 $3 -so that they can start a business.
"The programme focused specially on women, they are the most destitute of all. And that became known as microcredit. We created a bank called Grameen Bank. Then I had no idea what this final level turned out to be, but it turned out to be a global name."
He also narrated the outcome of another 'crazy idea'-Grameen phone. Government asked what he would do with the telephone company. "I said we'll give it to poor, poor women. They laughed at us. To make a long story short, we got the licence."
Nobody wanted to partner with them because they had no knowledge.
He explained his project to a person in Norway whom he knew. He happened to be chairman of Telenor. That person had to face opposition from other board members but he finally managed to get approval for investing in that phone project and eventually it became largest phone company of the country.
"I'm narrating this story a little bit because Bangladesh is a country with crazy ideas to change the world, make things happen," he told his business audience.
"Everyone you saw on this stage receiving their awards has very powerful, crazy ideas and makes them happen. So we invite you to join that crowd. Not only change Bangladesh by your business, change the world."
Leading business entrepreneur Nasim Manzur in his presentation in the session spotlighted the immense opportunity of Bangladesh for the investors.
Bangladesh gets 114-million-strong labour force in its population having tremendous innovation, resilience and entrepreneurship.
"This is the strength of Bangladesh."
He also named several enterprises that have their footprints in global business.
He points out that the country has low-cost labour, but, at the same time, the quality and productivity of Bangladesh labour force is high.
"For the productivity we get…we overcome the obstacles. There are very few countries in the world that have this kind of quality of workforce," notes Nasim Manzur, CEO of Apex Footwear.
Brushing aside the term 'cheap labour' used for Bangladeshi labour force, he said, "Our labour is not cheap, we have low-cost competitive labour that is one of the finest in the world and you can ask any investors in Bangladesh," he told the assembly of local and foreign investors amid huge applauses.
"We have the most productive factories in the manufacturing groups in Bangladesh."
Citing example, he said Coats is one of the largest manufactures of threads in the world in Bangladesh and "you will be happy to know that their highest- productivity factory is actually in Bangladesh".
Oscar Garcia Maceiras, Chief Executive Officer of Spanish clothing retailer Inditex, in his speech said Bangladeshi people have the requisite flexibility and innovation, the two characteristics required by their group.
Lutfe Siddiqui, Special Envoy to the Chief Adviser, anchored the session where Chowdhury Ashik Mahmud Bin Harun, executive chairman of Bangladesh Investment Development Authorities (BIDA), made opening remarks.
Mr Ashik said the vision of this government is to transform Bangladesh into a manufacturing hub of the region by 2035.
Kihak Sung, Chairman of Youngone Corporation and a pioneer in Bangladesh's readymade garment (RMG) and textile sectors, was awarded honorary citizenship of Bangladesh for his outstanding contributions to the industry and Bangladesh economy.
Chief Adviser Prof Yunus handed over the citizenship document to Sung at the formal inaugural ceremony of the Bangladesh Investment Summit-2025 at Hotel Intercontinental.
Sung, who first came to the country in the mid-1990s, was one of five individuals and organisations honoured for their significant contributions to Bangladesh.
"I am truly honoured receiving the honorary citizenship," Sung told the Summit.
Fabric Lagbe Ltd (innovation category), Walton, bkash (foreign investment), and Square Pharmaceutical (local company) were adorned with Excellence in Investment Award 2025.
The chief adviser also conferred the awards.
SDGs Affairs Principal Coordinator Lamiya Morshed and Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam also joined the event where Special Envoy Lutfey Siddiqi welcomed all.
Kihak Sung served as President of the International Textile Manufacturers Federation (ITMF) for the 2018-20 term.
His meteoric rise in the textile arena is associated with the success of Youngone Corporation, over the years, as a pioneering investor in RMG and textile sector FDI which led investments both in Chattogram and Dhaka EPZs and lately in Korean EPZ.
Youngone was the first investor in the textile and apparel-export sector in May 1980 and has been a pioneer in female employment in the industry.
Advisers of the interim government, including Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed, Foreign Adviser Md Touhid Hossain, Commerce Adviser Sk Bashir Uddin and Law Adviser Dr Asif Nazrul, were present.