US want Grameen Bank investigation be conducted in politically unbiased manner: Pyatt;
Pyatt, who concluded his 3-day visit to Bangladesh, made the remark referring to his meeting with Dr Yunus. In meetings with government officials here, Pyatt conveyed widespread and high-level concern throughout the U.S. government that the current investigation of Grameen Bank be conducted in a transparent and politically unbiased manner, noting the importance of the work of this institution and its value as a symbol of Bangladesh's civil society.
The US official stressed the important role of grassroots organizations in the economic and democratic development of Bangladesh, saying: "Bangladesh's strength comes from the grassroots
and that's something that sets you apart."
About his meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Pyatt saluted the positive role Bangladesh was playing in addressing some of the key challenges of the 21st century, including climate change.He acknowledged the excellent state of U.S.-Bangladesh relations across a variety of initiatives from development to regional security.
Pyatt also met with Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia and Jamaat-i-Islami Assistant Secretary General Barrister Abdur Razzaque during his visit.
He visited Bangladesh's Parliament building, designed by American architect Louis Kahn, where he called on the Deputy Speaker and discussed the importance of multi-party political participation in a healthy democracy. Pyatt also met with members of the American Chamber of Commerce on the sideline of the U.S. Trade Show and shared thoughts and ideas about U.S.-Bangladesh trade and economic relations.
Figures for 2010 indicate that U.S. exports to Bangladesh rose 32.75 percent to $577 million, while Bangladesh exports to the U.S. also increased, growing by 16.07 percent to $4.29 billion. U.S.-Bangladesh bilateral trade rose 17.8 percent from $4.134 billion in 2009 to $4.871 billion in 2010.
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