Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak will be on a three-day working visit to Milan from Friday to further enhance Malaysia-Italy ties.

The Malaysian ambassador to Italy, Abdul Samad Othman, told Malaysian journalists in the fashion capital today that Kuala Lumpur-Rome ties were very dynamic, active, and expected to further improve in future.

Najib and wife, Rosmah Mansor, are expected to arrive on Friday morning accompanied by Trade and Industry Minister Mustapa Mohamed and Tourism and Culture Minister Nazri Abdul Aziz.

While there, he will attend a Malaysia Day reception at Expo Milano 2015 on Saturday morning and will launch ‘Malaysia Food Festival’ at the Malaysia pavilion.

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi sent Najib an official invitation to attend the world's largest expo that is held once every four years.

Malaysia is among 147 countries participating in Expo Milan 2015, which started in May and ends on Oct 30. The Malaysia pavillion is always a huge hit among visitors, having attracted 2.3 million visitors thus far, exceeding the 1.8 million target.

Due to favourable response, the government expects the Malaysia pavilion to receive 2.5 million visitors by Oct 30.

Abdul Samad said Malaysia's involvement in the expo not only encouraged people-to-people ties but also received encouraging feedback from Italian investors and traders.

"Some are on fact-finding missions to explore opportunities and some are already making follow-up on the fact-finding missions."

Najib will hold a roundtable meeting with Italian industry leaders on Saturday afternoon to exchange information on trade and investment to enhance bilateral ties.

Malaysia-Italy bilateral trade last year reached about RM9 billion covering sectors such as security, general trading, chemicals, machinery, electronics, and electrical and hardware.

Malaysia imported high value goods from Italy, including helicopters and military equipment.

The prime minister's wife will open a fashion show by 18 Malaysian fashion designers at the expo on Saturday afternoon.

The prime minister and wife will leave for home on Sunday.

- Bernama