VN, Italy spur strategic partnership

Viet Nam and Italy set up diplomatic ties on March 23, 1973. 

The two countries regularly maintained exchanges of delegations especially high-ranking ones. Especially, Vietnamese senior leaders visited Italy including Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong in 2013; former National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung in 2014; former State President Tran Dai Quang in 2016; Permanent Deputy PM Truong Hoa Binh in 2018. Meanwhile, Italian PM Matteo Renzi visited Italy in 2014 and President Sergio Mattarella in 2015. 

In 2013, during the official visit of Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Viet Nam and Italy signed a joint declaration on establishment of strategic partnership. The two sides have formulated a large number of cooperative mechanisms including deputy foreign ministerial-level dialogue, deputy ministerial-level dialogue on defence policies, the joint committee on economic cooperation. Both sides have also worked closely at international forums including the UN, ASEM  and the IPU. 

Prioritizing trade and investment cooperation

Italy was among one of the first western European countries which early resumed ties and boost cooperation with Viet Nam in the 1979-1989 period. 

Two-way trade turnover grew constantly, reaching US$ 4.7 billion in 2016; US$ 4.4 billion in 2017; US$ 4.67 billion in 2018. In the first three months of 2019, the figure touched US$ 918 million. 

So far, Italy was Viet Nam’s forth largest trade partner in the EU. Meanwhile, Viet Nam was Italy’s biggest trade partner in ASEAN. As of late 2017, Italy ranked 32nd out of 128 countries and territories doing business in Viet Nam with 86 valid projects worth US$ 388 million. 

Italian investors chiefly engaged in processing and manufacturing industry, footwear, construction, sanitary equipment, steel production. 

The Italian Government added Viet Nam into its list of ten emerging markets prioritized for trade and investment ties. 

Italy started providing ODA for Viet Nam since 1980s, offering a total aid of €100 million on water management, manpower development, environmental protection, SMEs and healthcare.  

People-to-people exchanges are eventful especially local cooperation. A large number of Vietnamese and Italian localities have shaken hands including Binh Duong and Emilia Romagna, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Veneto, Ha Noi and Lazio. In addition, Quang Ngai, Phu Yen, Yen Bai, Phu Tho and Can Tho are promoting agreements to cooperate with Italian peers. 

Moreover, the cooperation in culture, education, and tourism was vibrant. 

Via the official visit to Viet Nam, Italian PM Giuseppe Conte hopes to cement and deepen the strategic partnership in all fields including politics, diplomacy, national defense, security, economics, trade, investment, development cooperation, climate change response, agriculture, energy, culture. He also expects that the two countries would support each other at multilateral forums and exchange views on international and regional issues of common concerns./.

By Kim Anh