Bangladesh is the seventh largest importer of Italian textile machinery. Italy is home to the second-largest Bangladeshi community in Europe, which numbers nearly 128,000 people. Their remittances are an important source of foreign revenue for Bangladesh.

In addition, there is increasing awareness of the unexploited opportunities in other sectors of Bangladesh's economy, like those related to a sustainable urbanization process, renewable energies and food processing, food security and sustainable development in agriculture.

Many Italian textile firms are, thus, grabbing prospects by relocating their production to Bangladesh to benefit from the well-performing textile industry.

Italian Deputy Foreign Minister Benedetto Della Vedova reviewed progress on the decisions taken between the prime ministers of both countries last October.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Italian counterpart Matteo Renzi met on the sidelines of the 10th ASEM Summit in Milan last October and vowed to strengthen bilateral relations especially in the economic field.

Expo Milan 2015 -- where Bangladesh will give valuable contribution in the rice cluster -- will represent an extraordinary opportunity to address the issues of nutrition through innovative solutions from international public institutions and private partners.

The partnership between the two countries is found to be a key ingredient in the progress of both the nations.