Bangladesh has the potential to lead the world if its people follow the right path, he said.

Prof Yunus, managing director of Grameen Bank, was speaking as chief guest at the inaugural session of the 37th Bengal Studies Conference, organised by Stamford University on its Siddheswari campus in the city. The theme of the conference is 'Focus on Bangladesh'.

"I want to declare Bangladesh as the first country to be free from poverty," Prof Yunus said. "We have to dream of a world free from poverty by 2055."

He said that despite their extraordinary capabilities, the people of the country are poor because of institutional and structural constraints.

The society is not allowing the poor to free themselves from poverty, he said, adding that they just need to be shown the right path.

Stamford University Vice-Chancellor Hannan Firoz chaired the inaugural session of the three-day conference. University Grants Commission Chairman M Asaduzzaman and Prof Clinton B Shelley of Chicago University were present as special guests.

Prof Yunus observed that there is no scope to move slowly while other countries are going ahead so fast.

He said Bangladesh is indulging too much in the past glory, but new glory will have to be created for the country to go ahead of others.

The past glory should be the basis of establishing a better future, he added.

The poor should have access to banking services, including microcredit, as well as information technology to achieve their full potentiality, said Prof Yunus, adding that half of the world's poor still do not receive microcredit.

Underscoring the need for greater imagination and innovation, he called for extending the knowledge base to tackle natural disasters such as the tsunami that hit Africa and Asia recently.

He said limitations of human knowledge were apparent from the devastating tsunamis as "we were not able to judge the ferocity and devastation of the tsunami."

Professor Zillur Rahman Khan of University of Wisconsin, Sabyasachi G Dastidar of New York State University and Prof Anisuzzaman of Dhaka University delivered keynote speeches on the first day.