Published : Thursday, 19 February, 2015, Time : 10:13 PM, View Count : 4
Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Benedetto Della Vedova on Thursday said Bangladesh and Italy may join hands in further improving the economic relations by cooperating in the areas of energy, infrastructure, transfer of technology and heavy machinery for textile industries.
The visiting Italian deputy minister made the remark during a meeting with State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam at the Ministry.
Welcoming the Italian Deputy Foreign Minister, Shahriar said Bangladesh and Italy have been enjoying excellent relations since the independence of Bangladesh and newer avenues for trade and investments will emerge in the coming days.
The Deputy Minister was accompanied by Mario Palma, the Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh, and Lorenzo Galanti, the Head of Office of the Deputy Foreign Minister.
Ambassador Mizanur Rahman, the Additional Foreign Secretary (Bilateral), and other senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were present in the meeting.
The Italian Deputy Foreign Minister appreciated the consistent growth rate of Bangladesh, which was over 6 percent for last six years.
He also mentioned that in 2014 (from January to October alone) Italy imported € 904.2 million worth of products from Bangladesh, which exceeded the import figures of FY 2013 which was € 865 million.
State Minister Shahriar Alam said that Bangladesh would appreciate Italian support in pursuing the concept of Blue Economy.
Vedova also extended the Italian Prime Minister’s invitation to the Prime Minister of Bangladesh inviting her to attend the opening ceremony of Milan Expo 2015, scheduled to be held on May 1.
He also hoped that the Prime Minister would be present at the Milan Expo on 20 September 2015 - the day which would be celebrated as Bangladesh Day in Italy.
The Italian Deputy Foreign Minister also met Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Engr Khandker Mosharraf Hossain.
This was the first visit of its kind by a member of the Italian Government to Bangladesh after so many years - a direct follow-up to the meeting of the Prime Ministers of Bangladesh and Italy last October in Milan on the sidelines of the 10th ASEM Summit.
