During a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh, Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali, at his office in The Hague on Wednesday, Timmermans mentioned that King Willem-Alexander himself showed a strong interest in Bangladesh's flood-control efforts and climate change adaptation. Timmermans expressed his government's ongoing commitment to collaborating with Bangladesh to address the challenges posed by climate change. He highlighted the close bilateral ties between Bangladesh and the Netherlands. Mahmood Ali praised Dutch development cooperation projects focused on water management, agricultural productivity, and income generation in remote char areas. He also thanked the Dutch government for its support of the 'Better Work Programme' by the ILO, which aims to improve working conditions in Bangladesh's ready-made garments sector. The ministers discussed various issues and agreed to explore the possibility of establishing regular bilateral foreign office consultations. Mahmood Ali thanked the Netherlands for providing training to young Bangladeshi diplomats and requested an extension of the program for another five years. They also discussed extending reciprocal facilities and services to each other's missions in their respective capitals. Mahmood Ali invited the Netherlands King to visit Bangladesh at a convenient time and Timmermans accepted the invitation. The Bangladesh ambassador to the Netherlands, Sheikh Mohammed Belal, was also present during the meeting.