Austria companies were interested in investing in various sectors in Bangladesh, said the visiting Austrian foreign minister Karin Kneissl on Wednesday.
A group of Austrian companies were eager to invest in different areas - from construction to medicine, and also in skill development training, said Ms Kneissl while talking to newsmen after her meeting with her Bangladesh counterpart Dr AK Abdul Momen at the state guest house Padma in the city.
She praised the economic advancement of Bangladesh in the last decade and said that Austria and Bangladesh would work together to ensure common benefit.
"The per capita income in Bangladesh has tripled and the country is going to be a developed country from a least developed country. These achievements are remarkable," she added.
More digitalisation is essential to achieve the next phase of the economic development but it has to be done with a lot of wisdom and Austria and Bangladesh can work together on this issue, the Austrian FM pointed out.
Responding to a question, she said that recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in Austria depended on the private companies.
There are certain criteria to do so and more Bangladeshis can be recruited if these criteria can be fulfilled, said Ms Kneissl.
On the issue of the Rohingya crisis the Austrian FM said Bangladesh did a wonderful job by providing shelter to over a million of Rohingya refugees.
She said that since the beginning of the crisis Austria stood by Bangladesh.
But she pointed out that Austria was not in a position to take any action individually, rather it takes a common approach which is being followed by the European Union.
Bangladesh foreign minister Dr AK Abdul Momen said that both the countries agreed to start direct air services on Dhaka-Vienna route.
"Austria is one of the first countries that recognised Bangladesh as an independent country after our victory in the liberation war," Dr Momen said.
"To fulfil the vision of our prime minister to make Bangladesh a prosperous country, we need a lot of investment, we need a lot of technology transfer to promote trade," he added.
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