Bilateral relations

Overview

Bangladesh is a low-lying, mainly riverine country on the Bay of Bengal. It covers an area of 147,000 square kilometres (about two-thirds the size of Victoria). Bangladesh is a Muslim-majority nation with a democratic, parliamentary system of government and a population of approximately 170 million people.

Australia and Bangladesh share interests in a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indian Ocean region that supports independent, sovereign and resilient states.

Australia was among the first countries to recognise Bangladesh after it achieved independence in 1971 and on 31 January 1972 Australia established our resident mission in Dhaka. Australia and Bangladesh celebrated 50 years of diplomatic relations in 2022.

High‑level visits and meetings

Recent bilateral visits and meetings include:

• May 2024, Foreign Minister, Senator the Hon Penny Wong, visited Bangladesh. She met then-Bangladesh Prime Minister Hon Sheikh Hasina, then-Foreign Minister Hon Dr Hasan Mahmud MP and then-Minister for Home Affairs Hon Asaduzzaman Khan. The two Foreign Ministers issued a joint statement on cooperation following their meeting. She also visited Cox’s Bazar to see the impact Australia’s humanitarian assistance is having on the more than one million Rohingyas sheltering in camps there.
• February 2024, Assistant Foreign Minister, the Hon Tim Watts MP met H.E. Mr. Muhammad Faruk Khan, then-Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism, Bangladesh in the margins of the Indian Ocean Conference 2024 in Perth. 
• May 2023, Assistant Foreign Minister, the Hon Tim Watts MP, visited Dhaka to attend the 6th Indian Ocean Conference and met then-State Minister for Foreign Affairs the Hon Md Shahriar Alam MP.
• March 2023, the Senior Officials’ Talks and second Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment meeting were held in Dhaka
• November 2022, Assistant Foreign Minister, the Hon Tim Watts MP, visited Dhaka to attend the Indian Ocean Rim Association Council of Ministers and met with then-State Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Hon Md. Shahriar Alam.
• February 2022, the first Joint Working Group on Trade and Investment was held in Canberra. Bangladesh’s delegation was led by Mr Tapan Kanti Ghosh, Senior Secretary, Ministry of Commerce.
• November 2021, then-Prime Minister the Hon Scott Morrison met Bangladesh’s then-Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, on the sidelines of the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
• September 2021, then-Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment, the Hon Dan Tehan MP, signed the Australia-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement with Bangladesh's then-Commerce Minister, the Hon Tipu Munshi.

Trade and investment relationship

Bangladesh has achieved impressive economic growth in the last decade (averaging over six per cent each year) and is scheduled to graduate from Least Developed Country status in 2026. Australia and Bangladesh are pursuing new opportunities to promote trade and investment under the Australia-Bangladesh Trade and Investment Framework Arrangement.

Bangladesh is a small but growing market for Australian exports. Exports rose $325 million in 2023 to reach $2.8 billion, making Bangladesh our 25th largest export market. The combination of natural fibres exports from Australia and our ready-made garments (RMG) imports from Bangladesh make our economies highly complementary. We are working to identify further opportunities to increase bilateral trade.

As a Least Developed Country, products from Bangladesh enter Australia duty-free and quota-free. Products from Bangladesh will continue to be able to enter Australia duty-free and quota-free when Bangladesh graduates from the Least Developed Country status.

While challenges remain to doing business, Bangladesh offers increasing long‑term commercial opportunities to Australian companies operating in education services, food and beverages, agribusiness and energy and minerals. Australian businesses are well placed to provide services and equipment for energy and infrastructure developments.

For more information on developing commercial links with Bangladesh, see the Austrade website.

People to people links

People-to people links are increasing, with 51,491 Bangladesh-born people in Australia, (2021 Census). Sporting links, particularly cricket, help strengthen ties. The Australian women’s cricket team toured in March-April for one-day international and Twenty20 matches. In 2023, over 14,000 Bangladeshi students enrolled to study in Australia - a 70 per cent increase from the previous year and the highest number on record, taking 13th place in student numbers.

In recognition of the importance to both countries of the preservation and promotion of arts and culture, we have committed to signing a Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation in Arts and Culture.

Security cooperation

We share an interest in a peaceful, secure and prosperous Indian Ocean region that supports sovereign and resilient states. Our cooperation spans maritime security, the prevention of irregular migration, and countering violent extremism and transnational crime.

Regional and global issues

Australia and Bangladesh work closely on a range of common strategic interests in regional and global forums, including as members of the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA) and the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime.

Bangladesh is a member of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), of which Australia is an observer, and plays an active role in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi‑Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC), to promote trade, investment, tourism and regional prosperity and stability.

More broadly, Australia and Bangladesh play active roles in forums such as the Commonwealth, the World Trade Organization and the United Nations (UN). Bangladesh has provided large numbers of personnel to UN peacekeeping operations around the world, including in Cambodia, Bosnia, Somalia, Haiti, Timor-Leste and in Africa. In 2023, Bangladesh was the top contributor of personnel to UN peacekeeping operations.

Bangladesh has shown generosity in hosting around one million Rohingya displaced from Myanmar. The ongoing humanitarian crises in Bangladesh and Myanmar are the largest and most complex in our region. Australia will continue to complement our humanitarian assistance for the Rohingya crisis with our efforts in advocating for accountability for the atrocities in Rakhine State; and working with Myanmar, Bangladesh and other regional and international partners to find a durable solution to the crisis.

Development assistance

Australia is a long-standing partner of Bangladesh in addressing poverty and providing humanitarian assistance for Rohingyas who have fled Myanmar and their host communities. Our development cooperation program includes focussed support through UNDP for social security reform, and long-term strategic partnerships with BRAC and other NGOs, integrated into national policy frameworks.

More information on Australia's development partnership to Bangladesh.