Vietnam, Italy negotiate a draft agreement on protection and exchange of confidential
VOV.VN - A round of negotiations on a draft agreement between the Vietnamese and Italian governments on mutual protection and the exchange of confidential information was held from July 18 to July 19 in Rome, Italy.
The Vietnamese delegation was led by Major General Vu Hong Van, head of the Department of Internal Political Security under the Ministry of Public Security, while the Italian delegation was headed by Major General Gianfranco CAROZZA, head of the Department of Law and International Relations.
Both sides officially established diplomatic relations on March 23, 1973. After 50 years since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have recorded plenty of important achievements in politics, economy, culture, and social affairs.
Italy represents the first Western European country to actively support the strengthening of ties between Vietnam and the EU at major international forums, as well as the normalization of relations between Vietnam and the international financial, commercial, and monetary institutions in the early 1990s.
The two countries have built many co-ordination mechanisms such as a strategic dialogue at the deputy defence foreign ministerial level, defence policy dialogue at the deputy defence minister level, and joint committees on economic ties. This is along with maintaining regular high-level visits, boosting close links at international and local forums such as the UN, ASEM, ASEAN - EU, and IPU.
In the process of bilateral collaboration, the two sides exchanged a lot of information related to the fields of co-operation between the two countries, including state secret information.
However, the provision and transfer of confidential information does not have a legal basis to bind each party's responsibilities in the process of managing, using, and protecting confidential information.
In the spirit of friendship, co-operation, and mutual understanding, the two sides met and negotiated on the basis of the English version of the draft agreement compiled by Vietnam.
At the end of the negotiation, the two sides signed the draft Agreement and signed a Memorandum of Understanding. They also agreed to report to competent agencies of each country for permission to sign the Agreement as soon as possible.