On July 26, PM Sheikh Hasina returned to Dhaka after her 3-day trip to Rome. She attended the United Nations Food Systems Summit along with some 2,000 participants from over 160 countries, including over 20 heads of state. The PM delivered a speech where she presented 5 proposals to the UN for transforming food systems to climate-adaptive agri-food systems, but her visit also included personal goals for Bangladesh. During the visit, Bangladesh and Italy signed two Memoranda of Understanding — cooperation in the field of energy and cultural exchange programs. There were talks of cooperation on various other fields as well considering the strengthening relation among the countries. If Bangladesh and Italy want to continue exploring the potential of their collaboration, there’s surely a lot more to achieve.
Italy was one of the first countries in Europe to recognize Bangladesh and support its admission to the United Nations. Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Gilberto Bonalumi even visited Bangladesh in April of 1989. Since then, both countries have maintained a cordial relationship. Italy has been gracious towards Bangladesh’s GSP policies and has played an important part in setting up of an International Study Group (ISG) on jute, which was vital to promote Jute, the Golden Fiber of Bangladesh. The countries had also signed an agreement in 2000 on “Scientific and Technological Cooperation” that has paved the way for exchanging scientists, researchers and technicians as well as providing study grants.
Relations between the countries have faced some roadblocks on the way, too. The 2016 Holey Artisan attack and death of Italian citizens or the refusal for Covid-positive Bangladeshi migrants to enter Italy could have soured the relations among the countries which have celebrated their golden jubilee last year. During the pandemic, Italy decided to regularize many immigrants with irregular statuses in contrast to countries that sent back immigrants. This consideration was advertised by Bangladesh’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs when disagreeable articles were being written against the country in the Bangladeshi media.
The collaboration runs strong as the trade volume of the two countries in FY22 was $2.25 billion, which is significant for Bangladesh, as among this, $1.7 billion was its export volume.
Italy also hosts a large Bangladeshi diaspora- over 146.000 people, mainly residing in Rome, Milan, and Venice. This population is also big source of Bangladesh’s remittance income which has been consistently growing, from US $712.43 million in 2020 to US $980.93 million in 2022. Last year, Italy even launched a $3million project for Bangladeshi workers’ migration management.
This year, on the second week of June, the first Political Consultations between the countries took place where both the countries worked further to contain illegal migration by signing an agreement on taking skilled workers from Bangladesh under a bilateral migration and mobility arrangement, particularly in the construction, shipbuilding and hospitality sectors. This will also reduce the risks and financial hazards taken by Bangladeshi migrants to reach the European country.
During the same period, the countries also launched “Italy-Bangladesh Friendship and Cooperation Association” with the objective of fostering collaboration in various aspects, particularly in the fields of economy, culture, sport, and people-to-people connections. The Italian prime minister even pledged to provide 1 million Euros for the Rohingya refugees.
Italy has not been well off since before the pandemic which seems to have left deep cuts on the economy of the country. It had the slowest economic growth in the EU last year. To revive its economy, the country received a recovery fund worth 191.5 billion Euros ($213.20 billion) from EU member states in 2020. Italian President Sergio Mattarella recently wished to invest this money responsibly for his country to get back on track.
This is where Bangladesh’s emerging economy can be an opportunity for Italy’s ambitions. Italian investors can invest in the 100 special economic zones (SEZs) in different parts of the country. Bangladesh’s duty-free market access to 52 countries including the European Union makes this more profitable. High value apparel sectors, on-cotton textile industry or the leather industry can be a good option for investment. This will be a strong boost to Bangladesh’s export basket especially Italy being the 6th largest export destination of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has already bagged the much-needed energy cooperation from Italy that will diversify its fuel sources. This cooperation should also include Bangladesh’s attempts at offshore exploration for oil and gas. With Italy’s helping hand through dialogue and partnership in the Indian Ocean Rim Association (IORA), Bangladesh can work on its blue economy, too.
Another cooperation field is the defense industry where Italy can avail both defense technology and knowledge for Bangladesh. The country has previously shown interest in selling high-tech weapons, aircrafts and air defense systems to Bangladesh which can compliment its initiative of modernizing its armed forces through the “Forces Goal – 2030” program. The Italian company Leonardo is already supplying communications equipment, technical support, and comprehensive training for the Bangladesh Air Force. Signing this MoU will further broaden scopes of cooperation such as ship and electric vehicle building.
Lastly, as the European Union moves forward towards a climate neutrality goal by 2050, Bangladesh can gain expertise from Italy on dealing with climate change for its agriculture sector.
*The writer is a student of Peace and Conflict Studies (MSS) in Dhaka
University, Bangladesh.
August 4, 2023
The viewpoints expressed by the authors do not necessarily reflect the opinions, viewpoints and editorial policies of Aequitas Review.
