As many as 100,000 Pakistanis residing in Italy would be legalised this year, former Italian ambassador Andreas Ferrarese has said.

“We are improving our relations in social and immigration issues because Italy is hosting the largest Pakistani community in the European Union. It’s almost 200,000 and 100,000 to be legalised,” he said in an interview with Shaukat Piracha of Aaj News aired on Thursday.

Ferrarese spoke about his four years in Pakistan as an ambassador and the scope of Pakistan-Italy relations.

He praised the bilateral relations between the two countries, saying that they recently closed a worth €100 million Pakistan-Italy debt swap agreement.

The former envoy shared that Italy was assisting in olive oil culture and mapping of glaciers in the Himalayan.

“We are increasing the flow of visitors. Last year, we issued 15,000 visas for Pakistanis related to tourism, study, and business.

He went on to add that the trade volume between Pakistan and Italy should be €4 billion to €5 billion. But he described it as “minimum,” saying that the trade was not matching the potential between the two countries.

He shared that the trade between the two countries was low when he arrived in Islamabad due to the coronavirus. But after four years, the amount has crossed pre-Covid levels, saying that the bilateral trade volume between has reached €2 billion level.

Italy has opened a trade agency in Islamabad to provide technical assistance, which Ferrarese hoped would provide an excellent boost for bilateral economic ties.

“Thanks to a work we made with the central bank of Pakistan, we could bring all the remittance from Italy through legal channels. It can verify that the remittance for Pakistan is around €1 billion.”

Albana Ferrarese, the former envoy’s wife, said that the two countries have a lot in common like putting family first and eating food together with the family.

When asked about the space for Pakistani designs back in Italy, she said that Italian designer Stella Jean was using embroidery from northern areas for the Milan fashion week. “In Italy, they appreciate a lot of embroidery than handcrafts and here is the place.”

But the only Black designer belonging to Italy’s fashion council had withdrawn from February’s Milan Fashion Week because of a lack of commitment to diversity and inclusion.

In response to the query, the former ambassador said: “Whoever is a hard worker has a place in Italy. Pakistanis are very hard workers and they are gaining respect. On the other side, they provide great contribution to our economy, like industry, agriculture, services and also plenty of other activities.”

He added: “Pakistan is a great country with a great and generous heart and can be a light for the rest of the world.”