Senior Advisor Professor Muhammad Yunus today (November 3) sought Indonesia’s support for Bangladesh’s membership in ASEAN.

He also urged the Southeast Asian country to create more opportunities for Bangladeshi businesses.

The senior advisor made the call when Indonesian Ambassador to Bangladesh Heru Hartanto Subolo paid him a farewell visit at his office in Tejgaon, Dhaka.

“I hope Indonesia will help us become a member of ASEAN. This is very important for us,” the senior advisor told the ambassador.

Dr Yunus told the ambassador that he also discussed this issue with Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim during the latter’s recent visit to Bangladesh, as the country is expected to assume the ASEAN presidency in January .

Ambassador Subolo conveyed his country’s support to the caretaker government of Bangladesh and said Indonesia would closely follow Bangladesh’s application for ASEAN membership.

“Indonesia is ready to support Bangladesh in any way possible. Hopefully it will be beneficial for both countries,” he said.

Recalling his multiple visits to Indonesia to promote microcredit, the senior advisor said that in his experience, he had seen a very weak presence of Bangladeshi companies in Indonesia.

“One thing is always regrettable: there are not many Bangladeshis in Indonesia. They are everywhere but not in Indonesia,” the senior advisor said.

“Indonesia is the largest Muslim country. But people there don’t really know about Bangladesh. Somehow we don’t interact much,” he noted.

“We have to find a way to get closer,” he said.

He also urged Indonesia to enroll more Bangladeshi students in its universities, hire more Bangladeshi doctors and import pharmaceutical products from Bangladesh.

Ambassador Subolo promised to work towards increasing trade cooperation between Bangladesh and Indonesia.

He expressed satisfaction with the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Pertamina Power Indonesia and Coal Generation Company Bangladesh Limited regarding the Solar PV Investment Project in Matarbari and other areas in July 2024.

The senior advisor congratulated Indonesia’s new President Prabowo Subianto on assuming office and invited him to visit Bangladesh at an opportune time.