Vietnam, Italy seek stronger economic, trade partnership

Minister of Industry and Trade Tran Tuan Anh (left, sitting) Italian Undersecretary for Economic Development Adrea Cioffi signed the MoU on bilateral energy cooperation (Photo: VNA)

Minister Anh recalled the fruitful outcomes of Italian Prime Minister Guiseppe Conte’s visit to Vietnam early this month, which laid the foundation for ministries and sectors of both sides to further foster their collaboration.

Vietnam and the EU and Italy in particular have highly supplementary import-export structure, he noted, saying that the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) will benefit both sides.

The two sides agreed to enhance economic and trade partnership bilaterally as well as at regional and local levels, especially through the signing and ratification of the EVFTA and the EVIPA.

At the session, Anh and Cioffi signed a memorandum of understanding between the two ministries on cooperation in energy, which is a promising collaboration area of both sides.

The two sides concurred to implement the memorandum of understanding immediately in parallel with considering cooperation in other areas, while realising the results reached by leaders of both countries during the Italian PM’s visit.

Latter the same day, Minister Anh and his delegation worked with representatives from the General Confederation of Italian Industry (Confindustria) to seek ways to boost bilateral economic and trade ties.