An 11-member Italian business delegation has arrived in Bangladesh to deepen textile technology cooperation, marking one of the most concrete steps yet in a bilateral push to modernize the country’s spinning, weaving and finishing capacity.
The delegation, comprising representatives of 11 small and medium-sized Italian companies specializing in textile innovation and technology, arrived in Dhaka for a series of business engagements with Bangladeshi industry leaders, according to a press release from the Italian Embassy. The group is accompanied by Italian Regional Trade Commissioner Antonietta Baccanari along with officials from the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) and the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers (ACIMIT).
The program includes presentations, business-to-business meetings and factory visits in Dhaka and Chattogram, organized in collaboration with the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Bangladesh Textile Mills Association, Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association, and the Chattogram Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with support from Bangladesh’s Honorary Consul of Italy.
Speaking at the opening session in Gulshan, Italian Ambassador Alessandro said Italian companies had contributed to the establishment and growth of Bangladesh’s textile industry and were now ready to provide advanced technologies to help the sector address emerging challenges, including sustainability, logistics and shifting global demand.
Trade Commissioner Baccanari framed the visit within Italy’s broader industrial reputation, noting that Italy is globally recognized for excellence in textile machinery, combining precision engineering with advanced industrial design. She disclosed that Italy exported roughly 71 million euros worth of textile machinery to Bangladesh in 2025 alone, underscoring the scale of trade already flowing between the two countries even before the latest push for expanded cooperation.
Also Read: RMG Club and BTMA Eye Long-Term Cooperation to Support Sector Development
ACIMIT, which represents more than 300 Italian textile machinery manufacturers, exports textile machinery worth about 1.7 billion euros annually worldwide, giving weight to Dhaka’s ambitions of capturing a larger share of that global supply as it modernizes its factories.
The participating firms span a wide cross-section of the textile technology chain, including Color Services, Corino Macchine, Danti Paolo, Durst, L.A.I.P., Lawer, Pinter Caipo, Reggiani Macchine, SalvadS, Tecnorama and Ugolini, companies whose specialties range from dyeing and finishing systems to digital printing and precision machinery components.
BKMEA President Mohammad Hatem, BTMA Director Chowdhury Hanif Shoeb and BGMEA Director Shah Rayeed Chowdhury also addressed the opening session, adding local industry perspective to a program aimed at translating high-level diplomatic goodwill into factory-floor investment.
The visit builds on a separate B2B workshop held in Dhaka this week, where BGMEA, BKMEA and BTMA leaders joined Italy’s ambassador to spotlight machinery investment opportunities in Bangladesh’s non-cotton textile industry and other emerging manufacturing segments. Taken together, the two events signal a coordinated campaign by Italian trade bodies to expand their commercial footprint in South Asia’s largest apparel manufacturing hub.
For Bangladesh, the world’s second-largest garment exporter, the timing is significant. Mills across the country are under growing pressure to upgrade aging equipment and adopt cleaner, more efficient production methods as global buyers tighten sustainability requirements and European regulators advance new rules on textile durability, recyclability and supply chain transparency. Italian machinery, long associated with high-precision engineering, is being positioned as a practical route to meeting those demands without eroding the cost competitiveness that underpins Bangladesh’s manufacturing base.
Industry associations on both sides appear intent on sustaining the momentum. With factory visits, B2B meetings and further trade engagement planned across Dhaka and Chattogram, officials from both countries are signaling that this week’s activities are meant to be the start of a deeper, longer-term industrial partnership rather than a one-off diplomatic gesture. Should the visit translate into firm equipment orders and investment commitments, it would mark a meaningful expansion of Italy’s role in Bangladesh’s push to modernize its textile and apparel supply chain.