Federal Minister for National Food Security & Research, Rana Tanveer Hussain held a bilateral meeting with H.E. Francesco Lollobrigida, Italian Minister of Agriculture, Food Sovereignty & Forestry in Rome last evening. The Pakistani Minister is visiting Italy to represent Pakistan at FAO Council.

Reaffirming their resolve to elevate cooperation between the traditionally friendly nations to a ‘strategic partnership’, the two dignitaries expressed satisfaction over the current spectrum of cooperation in food security & agriculture sectors.

Both Ministers reviewed excellent progress of ongoing bilateral projects, ie ‘Olive Culture Scale-Up Project’ funded by Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS), an initiative that builds on a ‘success story’ of the “Olive Culture Project” (2022-2024) & “Promotion of Olive Cultivation on Commercial Scale in Pakistan” (Phase II, 2021-2026).

Both Ministers also welcomed signing of an all important MoU for Labor earlier in May 2025 as a bilateral milestone.

H.E. Lollobrigida expressed hope to soon finalise and sign MoU for “Professional Capacity Building & Extension in Agriculture” aimed at implementing Technical & Vocational Education & Training (TVET) in Agricultural Sector for skill development & technical certifications in specialized trainings.

Italian Trade Agency (ITA), which established its resident Office in Islamabad in mid-2023, is sponsoring the €20mn project for horticulture sector to boost Pakistani workforce’s internal and external prospects.

Hon’ble Rana Tanveer Hussain thanked Italy’s assistance and continued technical support to Pakistan’s olive sector and solicited technology mechanisation, developmental research & enhanced capacity for olive oil extraction.

Hon’ble Minister also expressed keenness to welcome Italian delegates in Islamabad during 1st Quarter next year for ‘6th Joint Economic Commission’ and ‘2nd Joint Working Group’ under Labor Accord. 1st JWG was held in Rome on 15.9.25.

The Italian Minister accorded a briefing on dedicated department within the Italian Agriculture Ministry ensuring quality control over complete supply chain of olive oil and expressed readiness to share best practices with Pakistan.

Excellency Lollobrigida proposed setting up joint technical group from both Ministries to follow-up proposal for Technical Agricultural Cooperation in scientific research, mechanisation & oil extraction with state of art Italian machinery. He noted that Italy would offer an additional MoU in the field,adding that he would oversee its prioritised finalisation.

Minister Rana briefed his Italian counterpart on upcoming national “Olive Value Chain Policy”, under special focus and patronage of Honorable Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.

Rana Saheb underlined the impressive feat of “Loralai Olive” from Arbequina variety harvested in Balochistan winning silver medal at New York Intl Olive Oil Competition(NYIOOC) in May 2025 beating 1200 global brands as a groundbreaking moment.

He invited Excellency Lollobrigida to visit Pakistan for signing the MoUs noting that the visit would advance bilateral cooperation and exchanges in their depth and dimension.

Both Ministers concluded interaction reaffirming will to continued engagement to transform Pakistan into high-quality olive oil producer for domestic and export purposes while leveraging Italian technological excellence.

Pakistan Embassy Rome,
December 4, 2025.