During the 1980s, BCCI also became closely associated with Global 2000, an international development initiative led by former United States President Jimmy Carter.
Agha Hasan Abedi, BCCI President served as a co-chairman of Global 2000 alongside Carter and Japanese philanthropist Ryoichi Sasakawa.
Global 2000 supported programmes dealing with health, agriculture, food production and poverty reduction in developing countries. BCCI provided substantial financial and organisational support for projects undertaken in countries including Bangladesh, Pakistan, Ghana, Nigeria, Zambia and China.
The relationship extended beyond financial contributions. Carter and Abedi travelled together to several developing countries, meeting governments and local institutions to promote health and agricultural programmes. In Bangladesh, for example, discussions involved the Government, Global 2000 and the BCCI Foundation Bangladesh in developing joint health and agricultural initiatives.
BCCI’s involvement with Global 2000 provides another example of the Founder’s broader conception of BCCI’s role beyond conventional banking. Its international network and financial resources were intended not only to support banking and commerce, but also to contribute to programmes addressing health, agriculture, poverty reduction and economic development across countries of the Global South.