The scholars will study a range of disciplines including, energy, climate change, cyber-security, education, engineering, public policy and health, the Australian High Commission in Dhaka said on Thursday.

High Commissioner Julia Niblett, celebrating their achievements at a farewell event, said as future leaders, there are many opportunities to contribute to the development of Bangladesh.

“Your Australian Masters qualification will assist you in positively supporting the future growth of Bangladesh,” she added.

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid thanked the Australian government, and the high commission for this “valuable initiative”.

“They have done a wonderful job in not only creating the training opportunity, but dealing with our agencies to bring out 70 brilliant graduates. I hope that we will work out a mechanism to extend this training programme further,” he said.

The event also welcomed home 40 scholars returning to Bangladesh after completing their studies in recent times.

Australia has supported over 3,000 Bangladeshis to study in its intitutions since 1972. There is gender balance among the scholars with 50:50 ratio of men and women.

Ten percent of the 2019 scholars are from indigenous communities and six percent of scholars have a disability.