Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Nguyen Thi Bich Hue (R) in an interview granted to Vietnam News Agency (Photo: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – Relations between Vietnamand Italy are going from strength to strength, according to VietnameseAmbassador to Italy Nguyen Thi Bich Hue.
The two countries set up diplomaticties 45 years ago and a strategic partnership five years ago, enhancing theircooperation in politics, economy, culture and education, she said.
Hue made the statement in a recent interview withVietnam News Agency on the occasion of Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’supcoming visit to Vietnam and attendance at the third High-Level Dialogue onASEAN-Italy Economic Relations in Hanoi on June 5-6.
The two countries have regularly exchanged politicaldelegations, with notable visits to Italy by Party General Secretary Nguyen PhuTrong in 2013, National Assembly Chairman Nguyen Sinh Hung in 2014, PresidentTran Dai Quang in 2016, and Deputy Prime Minister Truong Hoa Binh in 2018 as wellas the visits to Vietnam by Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in 2014 and PresidentSergio Mattarella in 2015.
The two countries have maintained bilateralcooperation mechanisms such as the deputy foreign ministerial politicalconsultation, the deputy ministerial defence policy dialogue and the jointcommission on economic cooperation, Hue said, adding that they also supporteach other at multilateral forums and organisations like the United Nations(UN), the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU).
Two-way trade tripled within the past decadefrom 1.5 billion USD in 2009 to more than 4.6 billion USD in 2018. Vietnam isthe biggest trade partner of Italy in the Association of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) while Italy is the third largest trade partner of Vietnam inthe European Union (EU), she said.
Bilateral cooperation in other fields such asculture, education, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges has also beenenhanced. Many localities of the two countries have forged connectivity inrealms from education-training and environmental and urban management to smartcities and high-tech agriculture.
Regarding the third High-Level Dialogue onASEAN-Italy Economic Relations, the Ambassador expressed her belief thatthrough the dialogue, Italian businesses will better understand the benefits ofcooperating in trade and investment with ASEAN member countries, includingVietnam, especially after the signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam FreeTrade Agreement (EVFTA).-VNA
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