Speaking to FE Yunus said : ‘‘Fighting poverty in South Asia is biggest challenge. This region has great potential to emerge as the world’s strongest economy, particularly in human resources. If the there is a common passport for the region, it would help greatly in fostering people to people cooperation.’’ Yunus also suggested to the PM to initiate reforms in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc).

He also suggested that the countries in the region should make enactments to recognise the existence of social business. ‘‘Social business is that where an investor invests money for public good, without expecting monetary dividend. The investor would, however, be allowed to take back his invested capital after successful operation of the enterprise,’’ he said.