Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announces additional financial support for Bangladesh's transition from LDC status to a middle-income country during a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud at the state guest house Padma on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Visiting Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong today announced that Canberra will provide additional financial support to Bangladesh as it transitions from Least Developed Country (LDC) status to a middle-income country.
 
"We will provide additional economic assistance to support your economic reforms and your graduation from LDC status," she told reporters after a bilateral meeting with Foreign Minister Dr. Hasan Mahmud at the state guest house Padma on Tuesday afternoon.
 
Wong stated that her government would allocate additional funding to AUS Trade to foster deeper economic engagement with Bangladesh.
 
"We will provide additional funds to help Bangladesh align its labor laws with the requirements and aspirations of graduation," she said.
 
The Australian foreign minister also announced that Canberra would provide additional funding to technical education and training colleges in Bangladesh.
 
"We are very keen to deepen and strengthen our cooperation with the Bangladesh government, particularly between our coast guards," she said.
 
Wong emphasized her country’s commitment to working with Bangladesh and other friendly nations to ensure a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
 
"We share a region, an ocean, and a future. We are determined to do all that we can to work with you and other partners to ensure a region that is peaceful, stable, and prosperous," she said.
 
She highlighted the shared challenges in the region, noting that they cannot be addressed by a single country but require partnership and collaboration.
 
Describing the Rohingya crisis as the largest humanitarian crisis in the region, Wong said she discussed with the Bangladesh foreign minister the regional challenges posed by the conflict in Myanmar.
 
The Australian foreign minister also praised Bangladesh's initiatives on the climate front and pledged to work together in that area.
 
Foreign Minister Hasan said they discussed increasing Australian investment in Bangladesh and cooperation for skill development with more Australian assistance.
 
"We talked about human trafficking and agreed to work together. We also discussed climate challenges, as Bangladesh is an innocent victim of climate change," he said.
 
Noting that this is the first visit by an Australian foreign minister in the last 26 years, Hasan said Dhaka and Canberra have a very good relationship.
 
He mentioned that two-way trade now stands at around $4 billion, reflecting Bangladesh's significant economic growth. "This is quite impressive. The trade volume was much smaller ten years ago," he said.
 
Hasan said the Australian foreign minister assured him that duty-free and quota-free market access to Australia would continue.
 
Earlier, Wong had separate meetings with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud at Gonobhaban and state guesthouse Padma, respectively.
 
The Australian FM, who arrived in Dhaka this morning on Tuesday official visit, will travel to Cox's Bazar on Wednesday morning to observe the situation at the Rohingya camps.
 
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