Austria–Bangladesh relations

Austria–Bangladesh relations refer to the bilateral relations between Bangladesh and Austria. Relations between the two countries have been considered cordial with both the countries working towards further strengthen it.^[1]

History

Because of the long distance (The two capital cities Vienna and Dhaka are nearly 7000 kilometres apart^[2]) between the two countries, the historical contacts between the two peoples have been rather small, as Bangladesh never took a domineering role in Asia and Austria, even though very powerful inside Europe under the Habsburg dynasty, focussed on continental affairs and never became a colonial empire.

The two countries, however, fought the two World Wars against each other, with Austria (as Austria-Hungary) being one of the dominant Central Powers in World War One and part of Adolf Hitler's national socialist Third Reich in World War Two and Bangladesh being a part of the British Raj, a colony of the United Kingdom, which fought Austria (respectively Germany, which Austria was a part of from 1938 to 1945) on both occasions.

High level visits

Former foreign minister of Bangladesh Dipu Moni paid a visit to Vienna in 2013.^[3]

Areas for cooperation

Bangladesh and Austria have identified power and energy, health, education, tourism, human resource development and waste management as promising sectors for bilateral cooperation between the two countries.^[3]

Educational cooperation

The education sector have been seen as a potential area for bilateral cooperation between the two countries. Bangladesh and Austria have put emphasis on educational exchange programs between the two countries. Bangladesh has sought Austria's cooperation to increase the number of Austrian scholarship for Bangladeshi students.^[4]

Economic cooperation

Bangladesh and Austria have shown their deep interest to expand the bilateral economic activities between the two countries and have been taking necessary steps in this regard.^[5]^[6] As of 2013, the volume of bilateral trade between the two countries stands at €400 million. About 30 Austria based multinational firms are operating in Bangladesh.^[7]