Bangladesh plans to become a major customer of Australian coal and gas, according to a report by www.afr.com.
It quoted the high commissioner of Bangladesh to Australia as saying Australia has a "blind spot" on the economic and strategic opportunities the rapidly developing country offers.
High Commissioner Mohammad Sufiur Rahman has said that within five years Bangladesh would have an appetite for as much as $6.5 billion of fossil fuel imports on its journey to becoming a middle (economic) power.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade data ranked Bangladesh Australia's 32nd-biggest trading partner last year, with two-way trade worth $1.8 billion.
Australia's major exports were vegetables and cotton, while clothing was the main item imported from the South Asian country.
With Bangladesh planning to add almost 19,000 megawatts of coal-fired power generation by the mid-2020s and import two-thirds of its liquefied natural gas, envoy Safiur Rahman said Australia was ideally placed to fill this market.
"There is enormous opportunity for export of Australian coal and LNG to Bangladesh, given Bangladesh's sustained energy demand," he told journalists on Monday.
"If these are added to the traditional traded items, Bangladesh could emerge as a major trading partner of Australia soon," he mentioned.
Estimates provided by Rahman show Bangladesh will need 45 million tonnes of thermal coal and 25 million tonnes of LNG by 2024.
Demand from India is expected to reach 70 million tonnes of LNG and 70 million tonnes of coal over the same period.
Bangladesh's appetite for fossil fuels comes despite its vulnerability to climate change, with the country already suffering regular flooding and monsoons.
Although many companies and governments see India as the holy grail of emerging markets, Mr Rahman argued there was a "blind spot" in Australian thinking about the opportunities offered elsewhere in south Asia; the 2016 defence and 2017 foreign policy white papers made no mention of Bangladesh, he pointed out.
South Asian nations' economic growth rates were higher than south-east Asian countries, and trade with Australia was also growing more quickly, albeit off a lower base, he said.
Bangladesh was on track to become one of Australia's top 15 trading partners.
"Bangladesh is emerging as a middle power and, as a prospective partner, I think there has to be much greater focus beyond ... $40 to $50 million aid," Rahman said
"In the present context of Bangladesh, importance of aid is insignificant. Here we are talking about trade of three, five, 10 billion dollars. There is huge deficit of knowledge and understanding of south Asia as a whole, Bangladesh in particular, and I expect Australia to work on this," said the envoy.
As well as economic gains, Rahman said Bangladesh's strategic location in the Indian Ocean made it a good partner for preserving regional stability and the rules-based order.
Australia and the rest of the international community should continue to pressure Myanmar to repatriate more than one million Rohingyas who had sought refuge in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's finance minister last week suggested financial sanctions should be levelled against Myanmar.
"Unless the situation in Rakhine improves, there will be no change in the mindset of the Rohingyas, for which pressure from international community is a pre-condition," he added.
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