For Agha Hasan Abedi, building a successful commercial bank was only part of a wider vision. In 1978, the Third World Foundation for Social and Economic Studies was registered as a charity in London, with financial support from BCCI.
The Third World Foundation was formally launched on 29 October 1979, at an event attended by Jamaican Prime Minister Michael Manley, former British Prime Minister Lord Callaghan and Commonwealth Secretary-General Sir Shridath Ramphal.
The Foundation's purpose went well beyond conventional corporate charitable giving. It sought to promote the intellectual, economic and social development of the countries then described collectively as the Third World, while encouraging a fairer relationship between developing and developed countries and greater debate about the international economic and financial system.
Its activities included research, publications, international conferences and the Third World Prize, established to recognise outstanding contributions to development. The Foundation also published the influential Third World Quarterly and supported wider initiatives promoting South-South cooperation. Its conferences and discussions later contributed to the development of ideas that led to the establishment of the South Commission, whose report The Challenge to the South was published in 1990.
BCCI used its international network to support many of the Foundation's activities. Its branches and local offices helped with the practical organisation of conferences and meetings in countries where the Bank operated, providing facilities, local knowledge and logistical assistance for visiting delegates.
Although BCCI provided substantial financial and practical support, it was not responsible for determining the Foundation's policies. Its work was guided by its own institutional structure and Advisory Committee, which included prominent economists, academics, policymakers and international figures from developing countries.
The Third World Foundation is therefore important to understanding Abedi's wider conception of BCCI. He did not see the bank simply as a commercial institution operating in developing countries, but as part of a broader effort to support intellectual exchange, institution-building and economic development across the Global South.