Vietnam, Italy seek ways to bolster economic ties

Attending the event were member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies Tullio Patassini, who is also Vice President of the Italy-Vietnam Friendship Parliamentarians’ Group, and representatives from the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria), the Italy-Vietnam Chamber of Commerce, the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment’s Foreign Investment Agency (FIA), and around 70 enterprises of both countries.

In her opening remarks, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Thi Bich Hue said that the Vietnam-Italy strategic partnership has been nurtured in numerous fields, especially in economics, as Vietnam is Italy’s largest trade partner in ASEAN and the latter is the former’s fourth biggest trader in the EU.

The economic cooperation can develop further in the time ahead through new legal frameworks such as the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, she said, adding that the two documents were ratified by the Vietnamese National Assembly and are waiting for the ratification of EU member parliaments.

Patassini spoke highly of the Vietnamese Government’s efforts to create an open cooperation environment for foreign enterprises, including those from Italy.

Italy holds great potential to intensify cooperation with Vietnam in mechanics, electronics, food, shipbuilding and cultural exchange, he stated.

He affirmed that the EVFTA is an important foundation to further boost collaboration between European and Vietnamese enterprises as well as Italian and Vietnamese ones.

Head of the FIA Do Nhat Hoang said that foreign investment poured into Vietnam has increased in recent years, with a total capital of US$382.9 billion from 139 nations and territories. With 115 projects, Italy is currently ranked 46th.

The figures are quite modest compared to cooperation potential between the two countries, added Hoang.