Sweet fruits of efforts to promote cooperation between Vietnamese and Italian localities

On March 28, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung and Vice President of the Confederation of Employers and Service Workers (Confidustria) Antonio Braia co-chaired a meeting with business representatives and investors from the Puglia and Basilicata regions, aiming to build a roadmap for establishing strong relationships with the goal of cooperation and development between Vietnamese and Italian localities.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung speaks at a meeting with businesses and investors from the Puglia and Basilicata regions. (Photo: Duong Hoa/VNA)

Attending the meeting were Vietnamese Trade Counselor in Italy Duong Phuong Thao, President of the Italy-Vietnam Foundation Maily Anna Nguyen, and more than 20 representative businesses of the two regions of Puglia and Basilicata wishing to develop economic cooperation with Vietnam.

According to the VNA correspondent in Italy, speaking at the meeting, Ambassador Duong Hai Hung welcomed the presence of businesses interested in Vietnam, and said that Vietnam identifies green growth as one of the two core factors (along with digital transformation) in the process of restructuring the economy, transforming the growth model towards improving productivity, quality, efficiency, competitiveness and rapid, sustainable development.

Ambassador Duong Hai Hung introduced Vietnam's strategy to selectively attract investment, prioritizing high-tech projects with great influence and environmental friendliness, creating momentum to promote digital transformation, green transformation, circular economic development and emerging industries and fields (semiconductors, artificial intelligence, hydrogen, etc.); deeply participating in regional and global production and supply chains.

The Ambassador affirmed that Vietnam always listens and shares with partners and investors, contributing to a peaceful, stable, cooperative and developing environment, working together, enjoying together, winning together, and developing together.

Vietnam hopes that foreign investors, including Italy, will step up cooperation, share experiences, and provide policy advice to Vietnam, focusing on priority areas such as green transformation and digital development; increase financial and technical support for Vietnam; and promote cooperation in training and human resource development for Vietnam.

He also emphasized that Vietnam is committed to ensuring the legitimate and legal rights and interests of enterprises in general and foreign direct investment (FDI) in particular; ensuring the maintenance of independence, sovereignty, unity, territorial integrity, political stability, social order and safety, and policy stability to reassure investors; ensuring energy stability towards green transformation, developing a green transformation ecosystem, developing the digital economy, and digital transformation.

Vice President of the Confederation of Employers and Services (Confindustria) Antonio Braia speaks at a meeting with businesses and investors from the Puglia and Basilicata regions. (Photo: Duong Hoa/VNA)

For his part, Mr. Antonio Braia shared his good impressions of the country and people of Vietnam and the similarities in culture, society, traditional values, family, and humanity between the two sides; affirming that these are also the goals and principles of the Rotary Club.

He emphasized that the presence of a large number of businesses and investors at the meeting was a testament to the interest of Italian businesses in business cooperation with Vietnam, thanked the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy for its role as a bridge between businesses of the two countries and proposed to support the plan to organize a business delegation of the two regions to visit Vietnam in November.

Speaking to VNA reporters, Mr. Braia said: “This meeting is an opportunity to continue the journey of meeting and learning between the two regions of Puglia and Basilicata of Italy and Vietnam. A few months ago, we began to learn about each other to introduce the unique features in production of the regions of Puglia and Basilicata. Business delegates and investors, including representatives of many manufacturing enterprises in the fields of food, automobiles, construction, services, education, and universities, expressed the expectations of southern enterprises in a way that can start a correct and specific roadmap to exchange, learn, experience, and at the same time bring Italian know-how and technology to Vietnam, as well as absorb important practices of Vietnam to bring back to the two regions."

"In the future, there will be continuity, including with the next regional presidents after the local elections, in the possibility of maintaining the important cooperation between Vietnam and the regions of Basilicata and Puglia. A new impetus will be reinforced on the occasion of the business delegations of the two regions coming to Vietnam to attend an important fair on agricultural products in November, with booths displaying virtual worlds, cosmetics, and educational and training services to introduce to Vietnamese consumers," Mr. Braia added.

During the Q&A session, participating businesses shared a lot of information about the potential and desire to promote cooperation with Vietnam in the fields of agriculture, food distribution (especially wine, olive oil, pasta, cereals, dried fruits), machinery manufacturing, automobiles, as well as cooperation in education and cultural exchange.

Many investors and businesses share the same interest and are learning about import policy processes as well as product distribution channels in Vietnam, while also looking for products and technologies that Vietnam can export to Italy, opening up the possibility of two-way cooperation, not just interested in selling goods and services to Vietnamese partners.

Source: https://congthuong.vn/trai-ngot-cua-no-luc-thuc-day-hop-tac-giua-cac-dia-phuong-viet-nam-italy-311764.html