Chief Advisor and Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus on Friday outlined a long-term vision for Bangladesh’s economy built on what he called two unmatched national assets: its youth and the Bay of Bengal.
“Half the people are below the age of 27,” Yunus said during the signing of the July Charter in Dhaka. “This is our asset. In some countries, there are almost no young people.”
He described Bangladesh’s youth as its “fresh energy” and urged the next government to turn that demographic advantage into global opportunity.
Turning to the country’s coastline, Yunus criticized decades of neglect. “The Bay of Bengal is our own part,” he said. “We never paid attention to it. Others take our fish, and we can only watch helplessly.”
He called for a deep-sea port linking Cox’s Bazar and Maheshkhali, saying it could make the area “a new Singapore.”