US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday 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
here on Thursday (local time).
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.