Italy PM Meloni to visit Dhaka in December

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni is expected to make a one-day state visit to Bangladesh in the third week of December 2025, at the invitation of Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus.

Diplomatic sources in Dhaka, Rome, and Milan have confirmed the news.

Both governments are currently holding high-level consultations to finalise the visit, likely between and December 18-20, which is being viewed as a major step towards elevating bilateral ties.

A senior official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the visit "will mark a new chapter in Dhaka-Rome relations, particularly in the fields of trade, investment, and labour cooperation."

According to diplomatic sources, Italy is expected to recruit around 50,000 skilled Bangladeshi workers across various sectors over the next two years. This development comes amid Italy's ongoing plan to issue nearly 500,000 new work visas for non-EU nationals between 2026 and 2028, as part of its strategy to tackle labour shortages and expand legal migration channels.

Meloni's Dhaka trip, her first to Bangladesh and the first-ever by an Italian premier since Bangladesh's independence, had originally been scheduled for August 2025, but was postponed due to her role in NATO-led negotiations over the Russia-Ukraine conflict.