The meeting discussed issues such as intake of skilled professionals from Bangladesh, extension of working holiday visa to Bangladeshi youths and the opening of campuses of Australian universities in Bangladesh. One attendee at the meeting suggested that Bangladesh was a safe and investment friendly destination in the region.

The interface between the Bangladesh High Commission and the Australian Parliamentarians was a good start in terms of providing a platform to discuss and exchange views and ideas about current and future bilateral relations of interest to both countries.

Given the existing image issue surrounding Bangla-desh, the meeting was considered to be an attempt to dispel apprehensions and wrong perceptions about the country.

But what an irony of fate that the following day, 17 August, saw widespread bomb blasts all over Bangladesh. It was alleged that an Islamic group called Jama'atul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) was behind the bomb blasts. A number of people suspected to be linked with the incident have been arrested and investigation is underway to bring the culprits to justice. Time will tell whether the government is true to what it says and whether the people will be able to see that justice is done in terms of the public disclosure of the investigation report, arrest of the perpetrators of these heinous crimes, their prosecution, conviction and appropriate punishment through fair trials by applying the rule of law.

These questions arise because unless the government is serious about its business no meetings or promotions/publicity will be able to improve the current image problem confronting the country. The news of bomb blasts, including photos, were broadcast on Australian television and published in the Australian newspapers. This has the potential to have an adverse impact in relation to feelings and perceptions of different sections of Australian people, including politicians and business people, about the political, social and economic environment in Bangladesh.

The recent country-wide bomb blasts do not augur well for the government or for the country. This simply provides fodder to those at home and abroad who are out there to brand Bangladesh as an emerging Islamic fundamentalist country. Therefore, the main responsibility lies with the government to show through its actions that it is committed to rooting out the causes of all kinds of terrorism -- be it the prevailing social crimes or religious terrorism and violence that hamper economic development and social progress. This has been amply reflected by what the World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz said in a recent interview with The Daily Star. In reference to the countrywide explosion of about five hundred bombs, he stated, "I have a feeling that what happened last week should be a wake-up call for Bangladesh" (The Daily Star 25 August 2005). This implies that the government must do what it needs to do to avoid any bigger disaster in future.

Now, in my view, while the government-to-government contact and interface are helpful to some extent, it is through the contact and interactions of business people that have the greatest impact on improving bilateral relations between countries, especially in the fields of trade and foreign investment. Australian government does not trade with Bangladesh nor does it make business/commercial investment in Bangladesh. Therefore, more efforts and resources need to be committed to involving and engaging Australian companies and investors through contacts, visits, trade shows, workshops etc. so that Bangladesh can attract more export contracts and foreign investment from Australian businesses and venture capitalists.

We should bear in mind that in a democratic country like Australia with a strong market-based economy, the government has very little control over commercial decisions of companies concerning exports, imports or investment. The government's role is to create a competitive business environment in which firms do business domestically and compete against imports. It is absolutely up to individual companies where they will invest their money and other resources with a view to maximising profit in the context of their business strategy. This becomes more difficult for those companies which do business globally because they have to choose carefully which markets will generate more business benefits.

The real challenge for the Bangladesh Government or the High Commission in Canberra is to facilitate developing and sustaining positive relationships with Australian companies and investors and to persuade them to do more business in Bangladesh, especially in direct foreign investment. Direct foreign investment has the beneficial effect of creating employment and generating income for local population, apart from the production of goods and services.

In Australia, it is often easier to get an appointment with a Minister or a Parliamentarian (MP or Senator) than to see a CEO or senior executive of a company or business association to discuss issues of potential mutual interest. This is quite obvious because of the difference of motivations that drive politics and business. For business, time is money so they will only engage with something that has some business benefit -- be it profit, customer relationship, long-term or strategic positioning etc. This makes the task of the High Commission more difficult -- how to engage Australian businesses on a sustainable basis and promote business opportunities existing in Bangla-desh so that economic and commercial benefits accrue to the country. And for improving the image of the country Australian mainstream media needs to be engaged. Simple hobnobbing with politicians will not help much.