Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reached Rome on Tuesday (Feb 4) afternoon (local time) on a four-day official visit to Italy at the invitation of her Italian counterpart Giuseppe Conte.
During the visit, three agreements on cultural exchange, political consultations and cooperation in the diplomatic field are likely to be inked while the PM will hold a bilateral meeting with Giuseppe Conte on Feb 5.
A VVIP flight of Biman Bangladesh Airlines carrying the premier and her entourage members landed at the Fiumicino Airport, Rome at 4:30 p.m. local time. Minister Plenipotentiary of Italian Foreign Ministry Cristiano Cottafavi and Bangladesh Ambassador to Italy Abdus Sobhan Sikder received the premier, local media reported.
After the reception at the airport, a ceremonial motorcade escorted the Bangladesh prime minister to Parco dei Principi Grand Hotel and Spa, where she will be staying during her visit to the Italian capital.
Sheikh Hasina will attend a reception to be accorded in her honour at Parco dei Principi Grand Hotel and Spa in the evening.
On Feb 5, she will inaugurate the Chancery Building of Bangladesh Embassy in Rome in Via Dell’Antartide area in the morning.
In the afternoon, the prime minister will hold bilateral talks with Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte and join an official lunch at Palazzo Chigi, the official residence of the Italian PM.
The two leaders, in their summit meeting, are expected to discuss the whole range of bilateral issues as well as important regional and international matters of common concern.
Later, representatives of the Italian business companies will call on the Bangladesh prime minister at the meeting room of her place of residence.
The prime minister will then attend a dinner to be hosted by the Bangladesh ambassador to Italy at Parco dei Principi Grand Hotel and Spa.
On Feb 6, Sheikh Hasina will have an audience with Pope Francis in the morning. Then the PM will depart Rome for the Italian city of Milan by train and reach there in the afternoon.
She will stay at Excelsior Hotel Gallia during the visit to Milan.
On Feb 7, the PM will leave Milan Malpensa International Airport for home by an Emirates flight. She will reach Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka on Feb 8 morning via Dubai.
Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Dr A K Abdul Momen has said three bilateral instruments are likely to be signed between Dhaka and Rome during Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Italy.
The proposed deals are on cultural exchange, political consultations and cooperation in the diplomatic field, Momen added.
