Friendship medal awarded to Italian Ambassador Antonio Alessandro: Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga (R), President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organisations (VUFO), presents the Friendship medal “For Peace and Friendship among Nations” to Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Antonio Alessandro. (Photo: qdnd.vn)

Speaking at the event, VUFO President Nga said during his tenure in Vietnam, the Italian Ambassador made numerous contributions to bolstering bilateral collaboration relations between the two countries in various fields, including politics, foreign affairs, economy, trade, investment, security, national defence, culture, tourism, and people-to-people exchanges.

Particularly, during the pandemic, the Ambassador actively mobilised Italian Government to support Vietnam with nearly 3 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX fund, Ambassador Nga emphasised.

She said economic cooperation is a bright spot in the two countries’ relations. Despite the global challenges, bilateral trade turnover of the two countries in 2022 reached the highest level ever with 6.2 billion USD, up 11% compared to that 2021. The Italian Government has included Vietnam in the list of 20 priority countries to promote trade and investment until 2030.

Ambassador Antonio Alessandro, for his part, expressed his honour to receive the insignia, affirming that in any position in the future, he will continue to make contributions to further strengthen and promote the friendship relations and cooperation between Vietnam and Italy.