Netherlands will assist the growth of Bangladesh’s apparel industry. Relationships between the two countries will be strengthened to increase business and investment. The Netherlands cooperates with Bangladesh to improve living conditions of the poor, particularly in three areas: water, sexual and reproductive health and rights and food security. The other priority is labor conditions in the readymade garments sector.

Cooperation between the Netherlands and Bangladesh is reinforced by research institutes in both countries. Bangladesh has sought Dutch support under the broader framework of the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 to mitigate long-term flood risks and the adverse impacts of climate change. This would occur through basin-wide water management, land reclamation, river-dredging, building the capacity of Bangladesh’s River Research Institute, and developing knowledge via education and training.

During fiscal 2017-18, Bangladesh’s apparel exports to Netherlands stood at over 935 million dollars. The knitwear sector contributed 520 million dollars and 414 million dollars was received from the woven segment. For more than five decades, the Netherlands has been involved in the development of the water sector in Bangladesh. The present vision of the Netherlands cooperation is to promote the management of rivers from salinization, land reclamation and the integrated flood management, for poverty alleviation and improved socio-economic development for a sustainable environment.