Italy-Vietnam: Business Forum relaunches Italian investments

Hanoi, Apr 3 - Business forum entitled "Italy - Asia: Doing Business together" is hosted with the goal of promoting Italian trade and investments in Asia and, in particular, in Vietnam, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam, Cecilia Piccioni, stated at the press conference co-organised by Italian Embassy and Italian Chamber of Commerce (ICHAM) in Vietnam on Tuesday.Convening about 200 enterprises, the business forum is organized within the framework of Annual Area Meeting of the Italian Chambers of Commerce in Asia and South Africa, which is taking place in Hanoi from 2 till 4 April.

The Annual Area meeting is one of the most important events of the Italian Chambers of Commerce abroad (ICCA). "Its taking place in Vietnam mirrors Italian operators' rising interest for Vietnamese market", said Ambassador Piccioni at the press conference.

Chairman of ICHAM in Vietnam, Michele D'Ercole, revealed that the business forum "Italia - Asia: Doing Business together" will welcome the participation of 11 ICHAMs in Asia and South Africa. The speakers will provide information about the market trends and the business opportunities for both Italian and Vietnamese enterprises, offering a valuable networking opportunity for local companies to approach the Italian market as well as other Asian markets through the Italian Chambers of Commerce in the region. At the same time, Vice Chairman of Assocamerestero, Federico Donato, stressed his belief that this event will help boost Italian trade and investment in Asia, especially in Vietnam.

According to Ambassador Piccioni, multifaceted relations between Vietnam and Italia have increasingly grown since the Vietnam visits of former Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi (2014), of President of the Italian Republic Sergio Mattarella (2015), of Minister of Transport and Justice Andrea Orlando (2016) and the visit of Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang to Italy (2016). "Two-way trade between Italy and Vietnam records a remarkable trend as its steady growth (more than 10 folds in ten years), reaching over USD 4.6 billion in 2016. Italian investment in Vietnam rose to USD 360 million with 78 projects in 2016", said the Ambassador.

"The entry in force of the Free Trade Agreement between Vietnam and the European Union, scheduled for 2018, will provide furture tremendous growth and innovation opportunities, setting our relations on a path for a shared prosperous future and for "new generation" cooperations", commented she. According to Vietnam Customs' figures, Italy is the 8th commercial partner and the 4th among the European Unions' partners, as well as the 2nd EU exporter to Vietnam.