Son is leading a Vietnamese delegation to Italy for a regular political consultation between the two Foreign Ministries from September 12-18. He met with other politicians, including Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, and General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) Oliviero Deliberto.

He also co-chaired a round-table on strategy and international politics with Under Secretary of State Marta Dassu.

Both sides were satisfied with the fine development of the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, especially in politics-diplomacy, economics, development cooperation, culture, and education-training.

They agreed to maintain the exchange of high-level delegations, and cooperate closely at international and multilateral forums, including the United Nations, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – European Union (EU) framework.

They underlined the need to strengthen cooperation between their localities, create favourable conditions for their business communities to seek and establish partnerships, especially in transport infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, water supply, and the environment.

They also agreed to increase the exchange of students and cooperation between their universities and research institutes.

Italian leaders confirmed that Italy attaches importance to developing relations with Vietnam and considers providing continued official development assistance (ODA) for the Southeast Asian economy in the 2013-2015 period.

Both sides held that Vietnam and Italy will work closer together to draw up a bilateral programme on development cooperation until 2015, with a primary focus on such areas as water resource and environment management, support for small- and medium-sized businesses, and human resource training.

They acknowledged effective coordination between the two countries’ Foreign Ministries in recent times and agreed that the two ministries need to perform their leading role in fostering bilateral relations by jointly organising events to mark the 50^th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2013, increasing exchanges, and conducting regular political consultations.

At a working session with leaders of the Italian Diplomatic Academy, Son noted that Italy has much experience in diplomatic politics and integration into the European Union, and Vietnam needs Italian assistance in this area.

Vietnam pays special attention to developing human resources for national industrialisation and modernisation, as well as international integration, therefore, it hopes to send more officials and students to the Italian Diplomatic Academy for study, said Son.

Meeting with Roberto Colannino, CEO of the Piaggio company, Son said that the Piaggio plant in Vinh Phuc province is a success story, which is a symbol of the fine Vietnam-Italy relations.

CEO Colannino was satisfied with the operation of the Vietnam Piaggio plant and said Vietnam holds an important position in the company’s development strategy in Southeast Asia.

Son is scheduled to attend an inauguration ceremony of a Vietnam representative office in Tuscany region on September 17.