Egypt's tourism minister Hisham Zaazou on Tuesday cancelled a forthcoming visit to Milan owing to "institutional commitments" amid tensions with Italy over the killing in Cairo of an Italian student.
Zaazou had been due to attend a tourism fair in Milan on Thursday and to hold a press conference which has been "postponed indefinitely", Egypt's tourism authority said in a statement.
The recent slaying of Italian doctoral student Giulio Regeni has strained relations between Italy and Egypt, who denies allegations reported in Italian media that Egyptian security forces were behind the murder.
The 28-year-old Cambridge University PhD student vanished in Cairo on 25 January after leaving his home in an upscale suburb of the city to take the underground to meet a friend near the central Tahrir Square.
Regeni's battered half-naked body was found in a ditch on the western outskirts of Cairo city 9 days later with signs of torture. He went missing on the fifth anniversary of the uprising that ousted long time president Hosni Mubarak amid an unprecedented security crackdown.
It has emerged that Regeni had been researching independent trade unions and labour unrest in Egypt - a sensitive topic in recent years - and had written articles critical of president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's government.
Egypt's government has strongly denied allegations in Italian media that Egyptian security forces are behind Regeni's brutal murder, and has instead pointed the finger at criminal gangs.
The torturing to death of Regeni has strained ties between Rome and Cairo, which has made no arrests so far.
Italy has demanded Egypt's is maximum cooperation in a full investigation of the murder and in bringing those responsible to justice.
Sisi last week pledged Egypt's authorities would cooperate fully with Italian investigators probing Regeni's killing and "unravel the mystery surrounding the incident".
