The 8th meeting of the Vietnam-Italy Joint Committee for Economic Cooperation was held in Rome from October 17-18.

At the meeting, co-chaired by Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan and Italian Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Maria Tripodi, the two sides discussed and assessed major economic and commercial cooperation contents, particularly in trade, energy, agriculture, industrial machines, garments, footwear and stone exploitation.

The two sides proposed and agreed on plans to be implemented in the coming time to promote import-export turnover between the two countries after an interruption since the beginning of the year.

They also talked about measures to take advantage of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) to bring the two countries’ economic cooperation to new heights in line with the joint statement released during President Vo Van Thuong’s State visit to Italy in July 2023.

Tan emphasised that the traditional friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Italy have been strengthened and developed, adding that Vietnam recognised Italy’s attention to Vietnam in its recent development cooperation policy.

For her part, Tripodi acknowledged that Vietnam is considered a "bright spot" in economic growth as its growth rate, import-export turnover and foreign investment attraction are all at  high levels despite the fact that Vietnam is also being affected by supply chain disruption and falling global demand due to the world’s complex geopolitical situation.

At the end of the meeting, the two sides signed the minutes of the meeting and agreed that the next meeting would be held in Vietnam in 2024.

On the occasion of the joint committee’s meeting, the Vietnam Embassy in Italy on October 18 held a workshop on Vietnam-Italy economic, investment cooperation with a focus on sustainable investment and new energy.

Speaking at the workshop, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung said that it was an opportunity for businesses and policy makers from the two countries to meet, and exchange information, views, and strategies to further strengthen business connection.

They are also expected to join in addressing major challenges in sustainable development and create new values, and new benefits for business communities of the two countries.

At the workshop, Tan emphasised that Vietnam is seen as an emerging centre in the global supply chain. Vietnam-Italy investment and trade ties have made impressive progress and are fully capable of bringing two-way trade turnover to 7 billion USD thanks to the structure of import-export goods of the two countries that are complementary to each other.

With the EVFTA, import-export turnover between the two countries has increased by 21.1% in 2021 and 11% in 2022. Thanks to the strategic locations of the two countries, they become a bridge between the two most dynamic economic regions of the world and their trade potential is still very large, he said./.