During his three-day visit, he will also meet Speaker of the House of Representatives David Hawker and spoke at a roundtable of the Australia-Bangladesh Parliamentary Group at the Parliament House.

He will also deliver a lecture at the Australian National University on "Evolving Challenges for Bangladesh in South Asia".

He will also receive a briefing from Aus Aid, the development cooperation agency on programmes on Bangladesh.

Prior to his departure Iftekhar said Australia is a key partner in many different spheres and both the countries give considerable importance to their relations with each other.

"We cooperate a good deal on matters of technical assistance and food aid," he said, adding "the quantum of cooperation is likely to increase in the future. The visit will hopefully strengthen our links."

The adviser said, "Also, Australia is an English speaking country whose universities should be a good destination for our students. I believe we should have more academic exchanges."

He said Australia can be an important source of support for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) training, a key to making our economy truly knowledge-based.