Dr Atiur appointed special adviser to Japanese Social Innovation School

Dr Atiur Rahman, Bangabandhu Chair Professor at the University of Dhaka, has been made special adviser to the newly formed Creative Response-Social Innovation School in Japan.

The announcement came on February 4 at a special conference on financial inclusion and Sustainable Development Goals held in Tokyo, said a press release.

Dr Atiur, a former governor of the Bangladesh Bank, gave the keynote address at the conference moderated by Professor Emeritus Sei Yonekura of Hitotsubashi University. 

In his keynote presentation, Dr Atiur said the core message of the Bangladesh's story of financial inclusion was about the change in the bankers' mindset.

He emphasised on linking finance with sustainability agenda through ingraining socially and environmentally responsible financial ethos reflecting local and global challenges.

Dr Atiur also said the Bangladesh Bank followed this path by enabling the bottom of the social pyramid through financing sustainable entrepreneurial innovations.

"Along with creating an enabling environment for the microfinance sector through prudent regulations, the central bank bolstered growth by fostering innovations in agri-finance, promoting SMEs and women entrepreneurship, expanding green finance and above all digitising the financial services in Bangladesh," he said.  

As a result, the country's economy showed commendable resilience in the face of the last global financial crisis, Dr Atiur added.

President of Bank Asia Arfan Ali also made a presentation on agent banking at the conference.

Later, Dr Atiur also participated in a panel discussion. Experts on impact investment and development banking participated in the programme as panellists.