March 11, 2009---The IPRCC held a ceremony to appoint Professor Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Laureate winner in 2006 and Chairman of the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, as the advisor of BOT of the IPRCC. Mr. Liu Jian, Advisor to the Chinese State Council and Chairman of BOT attended the event and issued the appointment.

Professor Yunus is the founder of the Grameen Bank. In the 1970s, he began to develop the concept of microcredit, which was initially put into practice in Bangladesh, and has since proved its success there. Professor Yunus has gradually improved the model of microcredit, which has improved its efficiency in assisting poor households with education, sanitation and providing pension funds for the elderly while at the same time promoting the development of production and employment. Currently, the Grameen Bank offers loans to over 7.6 million people, 97 percent of whom are women, and 65 percent of whom have been lifted out of poverty, along with their households. In 2006, due to his tremendous contribution to the promotion of the development of poverty alleviation in developing countries, Professor Yunus won the Nobel Peace Laureate.
 
Professor Yunus has been serving in 38 committees within and outside of Bangladesh. He has been appointed as an advisor by 27 international institutes, and has a wide influence internationally. Inviting Professor Yunus to be an advisor at the IPRCC is be an asset for assisting the organization with expanding its international cooperation networks, improving its mechanism for business development, meeting the target of South-South Cooperation, and increasing its  influence in the sphere of international collaboration in poverty alleviation.