PM to visit Rome later this month to attend UN Food Systems Summit; bilateral docs on energy, migration likely

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to visit Rome, Italy later this month to discuss bilateral issues and attend the UN Food Systems Summit.

The 2023 UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment will be held in Rome, Italy on 24-26 July at the premises of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

It will be hosted by Italy in collaboration with the Rome-based UN Agencies (FAO, IFAD, WFP), the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub, and the wider UN system.

The Prime Minister is scheduled to be in Rome from 23 July, said a diplomatic source.

She is likely to have a bilateral meeting with her Italian counterpart Giorgia Meloni during the visit.

PM Hasina will speak at the Food System Summit in Rome while her Italy visit is likely to see the signing of half a dozen bilateral documents in the areas of energy, migration, ICT and cyber security.

Bangladesh and Italy have been discussing a possible memorandum of understanding (MoU ) on mobility and migration — to encourage regular migration and prevent irregular ones.

"We want to go further in our cooperation on migration issues. In particular, creating and enlarging the existing legal channels or legal pathways for migration while stemming the irregular one," 

Italian Ambassador to Bangladesh Enrico Nunziata told UNB in an interview recently. 

The envoy said the two countries have to deepen cooperation for preventing irregular migration, trafficking and so on.

Ambassador Nunziata recalled one of the deliverables during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's visit to Italy in 2020 — the reinsertion of Bangladesh in the list of countries whose nationals can benefit from a quota for work.

Talking about collaboration in the defence sector, he said there is a possibility of collaboration and transfer of know-how as well on a win-win basis. "So this is another important sector."

The ambassador said a memorandum of understanding in the cultural sphere for programmes of cultural exchanges is also in the pipeline.

The Italian ambassador also said they want to collaborate in the shipbuilding industry for the Navy or Coast Guard by sharing know-how and technologies with Bangladesh. "I mean that level of know-how that Bangladesh has not reached in shipbuilding yet. Together we can do more on that in shipbuilding as well as in other sectors."

The 2023 UN Food Systems Stocktaking Moment will build on the momentum of the 2021 Food Systems Summit and will create a conducive space for countries to review commitments to action that were made during the Summit, share stories of success and early signs of transformation, maintain the momentum for bold acceleration and bold action to further the resilience of food systems, advocate for their adaptation to climate change, ensure they contribute to communities' resilience to further shocks and crises, and boost the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).