SOCIETY 370 / 2016

BANGLADESCH
INTERVIEW
Fotos: society/pobaschnig
Since 2014, your country is
represented in Austria by an
embassy – how is the development
of the diplomatic relations
to Austria?
Bangladesh has very friendly
relations with Austria and the foundation
of our ties date back to 1971, when
the Austrian Government led by former
Chancellor Bruno Kreisky stood by the
people of Bangladesh in their Liberation
War and supported the cause of Bangladesh’s
independence from Pakistan. With
the opening up of our resident mission in
Vienna in November 2014, the relationship
gained new momentum. It’s growing
at a rapid pace.
How is the trade balance between
Bangladesh and Austria?
The trade is over half a billion Euros
as per Austrian statistics, but for Bangladeshi
statistics it’s over 100 million Euros,
meaning that it is in favour of Bangladesh
by more than 400 million Euros. For Austria,
it is not only the increasing trade
that will help narrowing the trade gap,
but also the complete technology package
which will play an important role in that
regard. Good news for Austria is recently
that Primetal, the Austrian steel technology
company, initiated a 200 million Euro
project of erecting a steel plant in Bangladesh.
So it is not the trade alone that
is very important, rather the extending
line of credit as investments for providing
technological solutions to certain industries
in Bangladesh. That is going to be
boosted in the coming days as our newly
established embassy is working on such
projects.
What are the main projects in the
bilateral relations between Bangladesh
and Austria?
The relations between our two countries
are growing steadily. The Bangladesh
Foreign Minister made the first ever official
bilateral visit to Austria in October
2016. He had meetings with Austrian Foreign
Minister Sebastian Kurz, held talks
with the Austrian Chamber of Commerce
led by President Mr. Leitl and also had an
interesting meeting with the Parliamentary
Foreign Affairs Committee of the National
Council of Austria. So that’s a good
start towards strengthening bilateral relations
between Austria and Bangladesh.
The main focus is to increase regular interactions
and visits on the political and
official level between our two countries as
well as on business level. Another project
that we are working on is the cooperation
on the tourism sector. We think that
Austria can help us develop a good training
curriculum for the tourism training
institutions in Bangladesh, as well as to
develop certain tourism facilities, and upgrading
certain tourism infrastructures
of our country. Our mission is also to establish
cooperations in the fields of agriculture
and livestock, cultural exchange
programmes, science and technology
education. We are also working on the exchange
of trade delegations between our
two countries.
A further important part of the bilateral
relations between Austria and Bangladesh
is the cooperation in tourism.
What are the focus areas of this cooperation?
Austria has important tourism facilities,
attractions and educational institutions.
This sector accounts for around
13 percent of your GDP with a revenue
of over 35 billion Euro. Our mission is to
work on the development of a good cooperation
in this sector. Austria can assist
us in creating practice-oriented curricula
and modernise not only the training institutions
but also the tourism facilities
across the country. There are more than
10 million domestic tourists visiting the
tourist attractions of Bangladesh like the
world’s longest, unbroken sea beach, the
ecotourism mangrove forest, a place of
ecotourism, and our spectacular beaches.
However, we failed to attract a large number
of foreign tourists although there are
foreign tourists coming to our country
from Japan, China, South Korea and other
ASEAN countries as well as European
countries. We need to promote this area
with the support of Austria.
What are your plans in increasing
tourist numbers to your country?
Our country focuses on the tourism
sector. 2016 is the year of tourism in the
country to spread information on our
tourist attractions at home and abroad.
All our diplomatic and consular posts
across the world do whatever is necessary
to attract foreign tourists into Bangladesh.
Our Vienna mission organises various
events like Bangla New Year, National
Days’ celebrations, numerous presentations,
where among other things we show
videos on our tourist attractions and picturesque
parts of the country. Our mission
is also to work as guide for the visitors
on information like the best time to
go to Bangladesh and best activities and
festivals to attend. Winter is the best season
to visit Bangladesh. If somebody loves
rain, the months of July and August (rainy
season) are the best time. Those interested
in ecotourism, can visit the world’s largest
mangrove forests, that are the home of
the royal Bengal tiger, deer, cheetahs and
all kinds of birds. Private tour operators
who have their partners in Vienna may
help you organise your trip to Bangladesh.
In terms of numbers, who are the
main tourist countries which come to
Bangladesh?
Most of the tourists come from South
East Asia and Far East countries like Japan,
Korea, China, Thailand, Malaysia and
Indonesia. European tourists coming to
Bangladesh are mostly British, German,
French, Dutch, Danish, Italian Swedish,
Norwegian and Finnish, because they established
diplomatic missions in Bangladesh
right after our independence. Our
country is looking forward to welcoming
Austrian tourists in large numbers, as we
are working on a direct air connection between
Dhaka and Vienna.
What are the three things you are personally
most proud of in Bangladesh?
In the first place, I am proud of being
a Bangali, the heroic people who love
freedom and independence. Bangladeshis
are hardworking and happy people. Their
simplicity attracts everybody. They are
very warm at heart and the most hospitable
people in the subcontinent. One can
feel it by visiting any families in the city
or in the rural areas. Most importantly,
I am proud of our huge talented young
people who are the drivers of the current
economic prosperity of our country under
the visionary leadership of Hon’ble Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina, illustrious daughter
of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu
Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Are there any attempts by the government
of Bangladesh to improve the working
conditions in the clothing industry?
We had a few incidents in the past, the
last was in 2013 in April including the collapse
of a garments factory building. More
than a thousand people perished because
of this. After that sad incident, our government
has strengthened the inspection
capacity of the concerned inspection directorate,
trying to ensure regular monitoring
of the safety of factory buildings
and security and welfare of the workers.
In addition, European brands and
buyers formed the Bangladesh Accord
on Fire and Building Safety while North
American brands and buyers initiated
a platform called the Alliance for
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SOCIETY 2_2016 | 63