Foreign affairs experts will discuss issues related to Bangladesh-Australia bilateral relations and beyond at Cosmos Dialogue to be held in the city on Tuesday.
Cosmos Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Bangladeshi conglomerate Cosmos Group, will host the event titled ‘Bangladesh-Australia Relations: Prognosis for the Future’ under Cosmos Foundation’s Ambassador’s Lecture Series at Six Seasons Hotel.
Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Julia Niblett will deliver the keynote speech at the symposium to be chaired and conducted by Principal Research Fellow of the Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore, Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury.
Foreign Secretary (Senior Secretary) Md Shahidul Haque will attend the event as special guest while Cosmos Foundation Chairman Enayetullah Khan will deliver the welcome speech.
The foreign affairs experts are likely to highlight ways to deepen economic and development cooperation between Bangladesh and Australia apart from shedding lights on global issues, including the Rohingya crisis, migration and climate change.
Australia was one of the first countries to recognise Bangladesh, and throughout the past decades, the two countries have enjoyed good, friendly relations that continue to flourish.
Australia’s bilateral relationship with Bangladesh continues to grow and the two-way trade exceeded AUD 2 billion on the back of sustained growth in the Bangladesh economy.
Bangladeshi products have been enjoying duty- and quota-free access to Australia since July 1, 2003.
Bangladesh also offers commercial opportunities to Australian companies in energy, telecom, transport, textiles, education and mining sectors.
Australia’s world-class education system makes it the third-most popular destination for thousands of Bangladeshi students.
Currently, almost 30,000 Bangladeshi-born people are living in Australia, and the community has been growing in recent years.
Since 2017, Australian funding has assisted the government of Bangladesh to lead the humanitarian response in Cox’s Bazar. The two countries have even been getting to know each other quite well on the cricket field as well.
