CA seeks Singapore’s support to bring back laundered money

Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus on Sunday urged Singapore to help recover billions of dollars laundered from Bangladesh and minimise the cost of migration from the country.

He made the call when Singapore's non-resident High Commissioner to Bangladesh Derek Loh called on him at his Tejgaon office in Dhaka.

“A lot of money was siphoned off from Bangladesh to many countries, including Singapore,” Prof Yunus told the envoy as they spoke for about an hour. “We need full cooperation from Singapore.”

High Commissioner Derek Loh pledged to cooperate with Dhaka.

Prof Yunus also urged the island nation to work with Dhaka in its goal to significantly cut the cost of recruitment of workers from Bangladesh.

He said the interim government wants to bring down the migration costs with a view to helping the country's overseas workers remit more money to their families.

"We can create a model structure with Singapore on reducing recruitment costs," he said.

Derek Loh too expressed his country’s desire to work with Bangladesh, saying they want to remove rent-seeking from the recruitment process.

He suggested that Bangladesh digitalise its overseas recruitment system, which will reduce the chances of the workers being exposed to human trafficking and exploitation.

They also discussed trade and investment cooperation, the foreign policy of the interim government, shipping, education, and healthcare of their respective peoples.

Prof Yunus said Bangladesh is now ready for business with the economy making a good recovery just three months after the dictatorship left it in shambles. “It is a good time to do business here.”

Francis Chong, senior director of Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry, said Bangladesh had proposed a free trade agreement (FTA) with Singapore back in 2021.

A feasibility study has been completed on the proposed FTA, and both nations will now decide the scope of how to launch a free trade deal negotiation, he said.

Loh said Singapore would be happy to share its expertise in water treatment and waste energy management. He proposed collaboration between the food agencies of both countries.

On the interim government's foreign policy, Prof Yunus said his government was pursuing good relations with neighbours and trying to revive the SAARC (South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation) as a platform to engage more extensively with its South Asian neighbours.

He sought Singapore's backing for Bangladesh's inclusion as a sectoral dialogue partner of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations), to which Loh said his country was positive.

Prof Yunus said Dhaka has got huge support from its Western and Eastern allies since the interim government took over. “We don't distinguish between east and west. We have to build bridges everywhere.”

Lutfey Siddiqi, the special envoy to the chief adviser, Lamiya Morshed, senior secretary and principal coordinator of the SDG affairs, and Michael Lee, charge d'affaires of Singapore in Dhaka, were also present during the meeting.