Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte on June 6 concluded his official two-day visit to Vietnam.

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte (L) and Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc

During the visit, made at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc, the Italian PM held talks with PM Phuc, met with National Assembly Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan and co-chaired the ASEAN-Italy business forum. 

During the meetings, the two sides acknowledged the effective and dynamic development of bilateral ties across the fields, particularly since the two countries set up a strategic partnership in January 2013. 

The two sides agreed to continue intensify exchanges and contacts at all levels and promote cooperation in politics-diplomacy, economic affairs, culture, education-training, science-technology, security-defence, sustainable development, climate change, and local partnership. At the same time, the two countries will strengthen existing cooperative mechanisms and implement signed agreements and programmes. 

The two sides agreed to encourage business partnerships in industries that Italy has strength in and Vietnam has demand for, and facilitate bilateral trade with the goal of raising annual trade value from the current nearly 5 billion USD to 6 billion USD by 2020 and 10 billion USD in following years. 

PM Giuseppe Conte affirmed his support of the early signing and ratification of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement and the EU-Vietnam Investment Protection Agreement, considering those two deals’ importance. 

Vietnam and Italy noted their commitment to mutual cooperation and support at multilateral forums such as the UN, Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and ASEAN-EU. 

They underlined the importance of maintaining peace, stability, security, safety and freedom of navigation and overflight in the East Sea to the region and the world, as well as the significance of the settlement of disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of respect for international law, including the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). 

In the framework of the Italian PM’s visit, the two countries signed an action programme on educational cooperation for 2019 – 2022, under which they will work together in promoting their languages and cultures, developing education and providing each other with scholarships.