Bangladesh, Italy review opportunities for bilateral cooperation

The third round of Bangladesh-Italy Political Consultations was held on Tuesday in Rome, where Foreign Secretary Asad Alam Siam and Secretary-General of Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Riccardo Guariglia led their respective delegations during the consultations.

The two sides expressed satisfaction at the breadth and depth of the bilateral engagements between the two countries, said a press release.

Both sides reviewed the full spectrum of Bangladesh-Italy relations and discussed avenues for further cooperation in other priority sectors. Bangladesh thanked Italy for its support during the democratic transition and reform initiatives, and reaffirmed its readiness in advancing cooperation in line with its development and strategic priorities.

On the economic front, the two sides discussed ways to enhance bilateral trade, promote investment and joint ventures and explore new opportunities for deeper, sustainable economic cooperation.

Bangladesh highlighted the recent reform initiatives that demonstrate its commitment to an investor-friendly climate. Bangladesh sought Italy’s support at the UN General Assembly for deferment of its LDC graduation.

Bangladesh underscored the importance of continued market access to the European market for its exports in the post-LDC graduation era through instruments such as a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and an Investment Protection Agreement (IPA) for sustaining its socio-economic development. In this regard, it requested Italy’s political and technical support for Bangladesh-EU FTA negotiations and for an early review of the automatic safeguard threshold for textile and RMG products under the EU’s new GSP regulation.

On migration and skills development, Bangladesh appreciated Italy for hosting a large number of Bangladeshi nationals and urged Italy to translate the “Talent Partnership” with Italy into more favourable workers’ mobility from Bangladesh. Bangladesh also outlined its initiatives to prevent and curb irregular migration that has been yielding positive results.

At the same time, it underscored the importance of opening up more pathways for legal migration under the 2025 MoU on Migration and Mobility. It sought support in Italian language and skills training of the prospective workers.  

Bangladesh side further flagged the issue of several hundred Bangladeshi workers who entered Italy in 2022-2023 through regular channels but now face difficulties in changing employers and extending their stay permit as their original sponsors remain unreachable. Bangladesh requested Italy’s special consideration for their regularisation. 

The two sides also discussed expanding collaboration in culture, education, defence, technology, agriculture, energy, infrastructure, and climate change and food security.

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The delegations exchanged views on regional and global developments and cooperation in the multilateral fora. Bangladesh requested for greater political and humanitarian support from Italy for achieving a lasting solution to the protracted Rohingya crisis.

The two sides agreed to hold the next round of Political Consultations in Dhaka next year, at a mutually convenient date.

Later in the day, the foreign secretary met Matthew Hollingworth, assistant executive director of the World Food Programme (WFP) and discussed different issues including WFP’s humanitarian assistance for the forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals (FDMNs), cooperation on food security, anticipatory action, resilience building, school feeding programme and other nutrition programmes in Bangladesh.