Industries Minister Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun saysBangladesh-Italy ties transforming with strategic elements

Minister for Industries Nurul Majid Mahmud Humayun on Sunday highlighted the evolving ties between Bangladesh and Italy, describing it as transitioning towards a comprehensive partnership with strategic dimensions.

He expressed satisfaction at the progress in bilateral relations during a reception held by Italian Ambassador Antonio Alessandro on Italy's 78th Republic Day.

Italy was one of the first few Western countries that recognized Bangladesh as an independent country, on February 12, 1972.

“Italy has been a time-tested friend of Bangladesh and a partner in our aspired emancipation to become a developed country,” he said.

“It is indeed a matter of great satisfaction that the existing bilateral relations between our two friendly countries are transforming towards a broad-based partnership with strategic elements,” he said.

The landmark visit of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to Rome in July last year and her bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni during the visit had expedited the initiation of this transition, the industries minister said.

“There has been visible progress in collaboration between our two countries in the areas of trade and investment, energy, defence, migration and mobility, and culture in recent times.”

Two-way trade crossed $3 billion last year. “We believe there is ample scope to further expand our bilateral trade.”

The minister particularly mentioned the areas related to textiles, leather and leather products, renewable energy and waste-to-energy, agro-processing, automotive vehicle and engineering, maritime and IT sectors.

He also thanked the Italian government’s desire to recruit more skilled workers from Bangladesh under the legal migration scheme.

The ambassador also acknowledged that the relations were “ever-growing and increasingly multifaceted, especially people-to-people relations.”

“You know that we host a very large community of Bangladeshi people in Italy and migration relations are very important for both countries,” the ambassador said.

“There is more than migration between Italy and Bangladesh,” he said, underling two sectors: industry and culture.

He said Italian companies were very proud of their contribution to the development of a first-class, world-leading garment industry in Bangladesh.

“Italy is not just a buyer of RMG, but also a major supplier of machinery and technology that are essential to keep the textile sector of Bangladesh innovative, competitive and sustainable,” the ambassador said.

“And culture means many things and of course – language, archaeology, museums, academy, but also creative industries and tourism and fashion values. So we believe that Italian experience and Bangladesh's young vitality make the perfect match for the best of our future relations,” he said.

“Italian people in Bangladesh are a very active bridge between our two people.”