The Prime Minister was pleased to meet in Sydney today with His Excellency Mr Issoufou Mahamadou, President of the Republic of Niger.
The Prime Minister and President agreed to work together to strengthen the relationship between Australia and Niger in a number of areas, including counterterrorism, mining and education.
The Prime Minister welcomed the President’s engagement with leaders in Australia’s mining industry. As countries rich in natural resources, Australia and Niger can share experience and work together in the mining sector.
The Prime Minister advised the President that Australia will enhance its capacity-building support to Niger in mining, including by providing further technical advice and hands-on training.
The Prime Minister and President discussed the threat to security in their respective regions from terrorism, and their commitment to address this threat. The Prime Minister is pleased to announce that the Australian Department of Defence will provide a new counter-terrorism training activity with Niger, which will focus on military skills and the Law of Armed Conflict.
The Prime Minister and President agreed to collaborate more closely on education, with a specific focus on areas that Niger identifies as priority sectors. The Prime Minister announced twelve new Masters degree scholarships for Niger under the Australia Awards (scholarships) program. This will build on the current participation by Niger in the Australia Awards short courses.
The Prime Minister also announced that Australia’s new Diplomatic Academy, within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, will offer to Niger a series of diplomatic training courses, including participation in DFAT’s Graduate Training Program.
These new areas of collaboration will build on the existing relationship between Australia and Niger, and our past cooperation on agriculture and dryland farming, and humanitarian and emergency response.
The Prime Minister looks forward to increasing cooperation with Niger on our shared interests.