BSS, Dhaka

Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Antonio Alessandro has pledged that his embassy in Dhaka, with reinforcements from Rome, is taking steps to resolve the huge backlog in processing work visas for Bangladeshi nationals.

The assurance was made when he paid his maiden courtesy call on foreign adviser Md Touhid Hossain at the foreign ministry here on Tuesday, said a foreign ministry’s press release today.

During the meeting, the foreign adviser conveyed interim government’s strong commitment to deterring all forms of irregularities that hinder regular and robust migration from Bangladesh to Italy.

The Ambassador thanked the foreign adviser for the commitment while expressing deep regret on the current work visa backlog.

Both the adviser and the envoy also agreed to work towards concluding a bilateral migration and mobility instrument soon in ensuring a robust and regular migration infrastructure.

The Ambassador commended the success of the Bangladeshi diaspora in Italy, engaged in sectors spanned across smallholder businesses, art, movie making and so on, in garnering mutual socio-economic benefits for both countries.

The foreign adviser said that Bangladesh-Italy bilateral relations as intense, and alluded to the ever-growing multifaceted engagements between the two friendly nations in areas of inter-alia, people-to-people, business, education, and culture.

The Italian Ambassador echoed the adviser in having Bangladesh as a major economic partner of Italy through strong business ties in various sectors, including RMG.

The envoy urged Italy to expand trade and economic relations between the longstanding partner countries through projecting the myriads of business opportunities that Bangladesh has to offer.

On the Rohingya issue, both sides underlined the repatriation of the Rohingyas to their homeland, Myanmar, with rights and security.

The Italian Ambassador assured the foreign adviser of the continued humanitarian support to the Rohingyas in Bangladesh.