TDS Desk:

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Tuesday sought Dutch support for the ambitious reform agenda of the interim government, noting that every institution of the country was destroyed by Sheikh Hasina’s autocratic regime.

“We have to reinvent the institutions,” he conveyed to Ambassador of the Netherlands to Bangladesh Irma van Dueren when she paid a courtesy call on him at the state guesthouse Jamuna in Dhaka.

Prof Yunus said his government is committed to carrying out vital reforms in education, finance, labour sector, Election Commission, judiciary, civil administration, and business environment, according to the chief adviser’s press wing.

The Dutch envoy expressed her country’s full support to the interim government, saying that the Netherlands would strengthen ties with Bangladesh in wide-ranging areas of cooperation, including agriculture, maritime, industry, youth, knowledge economy, labour, environment and flood management.

Prof Yunus thanked the Dutch ambassador, saying he has a long personal connection with the Netherlands including its leadership and businesses.

While discussing the issue of the Rohingya crisis, the chief adviser said the Rohingyas growing up in the camps must be educated and trained so that they do not have a bleak future.

Irma van Dueren said they would bring in more Dutch investment in a cluster of potential businesses, including agriculture, water, and renewable energy.

Senior Secretary on SDGs Affairs Lamiya Morshed, Director General of the foreign ministry Kazi Russel Pervez, and Deputy Dutch Ambassador Thijs Woudstra were present during the meeting.