Australian Scholarships Awarded
The Australian High Commissioner to Bangladesh H E Mr. Douglas Foskett, seen here talking to scholarship recipients.
“Australia is very pleased to be assisting Bangladesh develop its human capital, by offering 73 talented men and women scholarships to Australia’s world-class universities”, the Australian High Commissioner, H E Mr. Douglas Foskett, said today at a pre-departure ceremony held in the city on 25 November to farewell the scholarship holders.
Mr Foskett emphasised Australia’s ongoing support for Bangladesh’s focus on human resource development as a critical way to promote poverty reduction and economic development. Noting the focus of the Australian scholarships focus on developing Bangladesh’s capacity in the key areas of education, public health, water management, gender, public policy and diplomacy, he said
“Australia’s partnership with both government and non-government agencies ensures the scholarship program will meet institutional capacity strengthening objectives. On their return from Australia, the scholarship awardees will be able to contribute significantly to their own workplaces and the country as a whole”
Mr Foskett welcomed the presence of 20 scholarship awardees from the Chittagong Hill Tracts. Thanking the UNDP Country Director, Mr Manoj Basnyat, who was also present, he praised and looked forward to continuing close cooperation between the Government, UNDP and the High Commission in promoting development in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Included in the 2008 intake are 15 awardees of another global Australian scholarship program – the Australian Leadership Awards – targeting current and future leaders and key personnel in corporate, academic, non-government and government services. The High Commissioner added “As was the case last year, Bangladesh did extremely well in the ALA selection process and, with 15 ALA awardees, received the second highest number of scholarships globally and the highest number in the South Asian region.”
Congratulating the scholarship awardees, the Joint-Secretary ERD, Mr. Mr. A. M. Badrudduja, expressed his gratitude to the Australian Government for the valuable support provided to the Government of Bangladesh through the Australian Scholarships. He urged candidates during their stay in Australia to play a positive role as they are ambassadors of Bangladesh and promote the image of their country.
Australian High Commission
Dhaka
25 November 2007