Köhler seeks Yunus advice on poverty reduction
Thursday, 7 June 2007
German President Horst Köhler has sought advice from microcredit guru Muhammad Yunus on what the industrialised countries should do on reduction of poverty, globalization, trade, climate change and the environment, reports bdnews24.com
All these issues are expected to be discussed at the G8 Summit that began Wednesday in Heiligendamm in northern Germany.
The Nobel laureate was a guest of President Horst Köhler on Tuesday at the Bellevue Castle in Berlin, according to information received from Yunus's secretariat here.
Explaining the poverty reduction strategies in Bangladesh, Yunus requested the German President to discuss at the G8 Summit setting up of a micro-finance fund for Africa, which is a priority area for Germany.
He said, in order to make globalization meaningful, the industrialised countries should open up their markets to all poor countries.
"Garments export from Bangladesh has been a direct route out of poverty for two million women in Bangladesh today," he said. "If export of textiles to the United States could be made duty-free for Bangladesh, a facility already available to LDCs in the Caribbean and Africa, then millions more women could also come out of poverty."
Yunus thanked Germany as the President of the European Union for allowing duty-free access to all Bangladeshi exports.
On climate change, he mentioned that Bangladesh would be one of the countries to be greatly affected by continued rise in global warming.
The founder of Grameen Bank said it was important for industrialised countries to understand that the actions and lifestyles in the rich countries are directly affecting the lives of millions in the poor countries.
The German President told Yunus that he would like to continue the discussions with him on globalization and the environment over the coming months.
Afterwards, Yunus was the chief guest at the opening of the 'German Week for the Environment' at Bellevue Castle. Over 1,000 high officials and representatives of NGOs and media were present at the function.
The main theme of the weeklong exhibition is state of the art environmental technology and renewable energy, with possibility of application in developing countries such as Bangladesh.