Austrian companies were keen to invest in Bangladesh as the Western European nation sought to cement economic ties with Bangladesh, non-resident ambassador of Austria Katharina Wieser said on Monday.
Wieser, who is based in New Delhi but serves as the envoy to Bangladesh, made the comments when she called on chief adviser professor Muhammad Yunus at his office at Tejgaon in Dhaka.
Ambassador Wieser said that her government would support the country鈥檚 interim government in its move to carry out sweeping reforms in the country.
The chief adviser said that the country would decide on vote date once reforms were implemented and the voter list was prepared.
The ambassador said that several Austrian companies were interested in investing in Bangladesh, including a company that wanted to set up a technical school on the outskirts of Dhaka. But they needed some cooperation from Bangladesh authorities to secure soft loans from Austrian financial institutions.
Professor Yunus instantly asked officials to look into the issue with the concerned ministry.
Bangladesh鈥檚 counterterrorism measures, cross-border issues, human trafficking, legal migration, climate change, reforms in Bangladesh police, and the country鈥檚 law and order situation also featured in the talks.
The envoy said that Austria had a long-term policy to promote legal migration, and Bangladeshis were the sixth largest migrant community in the rich Western European nation.
Professor Yunus said that Austria should take more Bangladeshis through the legal channels. It would cut human trafficking from Bangladesh.
Lamiya Morshed, senior secretary and the principal coordinator of SDG affairs, and Tasbirul Islam, honorary consul of Austria, were present during the meeting.
