In the morning of March 3, Mr. Huynh DucTho – Chairman of Danang People's Committee hosted a courtesy meeting with the Italian delegation led by Mrs. Cecilia Piccioni, the Italian Ambassador to Vietnam. The first official visit to Danang of the Italian Ambassador to Vietnam and the Italian Consul General to Ho Chi Minh City aimed to establish and enhance the cooperation between Italy and Danang in the fields of trade, investment, education, cultural exchange and sports.
At the meeting, Chairman Huynh Duc Tho warmly welcomed the Ambassador and shared that the city would take full advantage of the EU-VietNam free trade agreement to expand trade relationship with and attract high-quality investment capital from the EU countries, including Italy. Until now, trade between Danang and Italy as well as FDI inflows from Italy were not much. Therefore, he suggested Mrs. Cecilia Piccioni cooperate to promote economic relationship between two localities, especially in the field of investment.
Speaking at the meeting, Ms. Cecilia Piccioni expressed her gratitude to the city leader and her appreciation for the socio-economic development of Danang in recent years. She acknowledged the city's effort in pursuing urban development in environementally friendly and sustainable manner and hoped to coordinate with the city to organise a seminar on climate change in Danang in June 2016. In addition, she agreed with Chairman Huynh Duc Tho to promote the relationship between two localities, especially in the fields that Italy has advantages such as tourism, food, sustainable development, infrastructure and education, especially physical education such as football training.
After the meeting, Mrs. Cecilia Piccioni and the Italian business delegation took part in the Workshop "Opportunities for economic cooperation between Danang and Italy" chaired by Vice Chairman Phung Tan Viet. Attending the workshop was representatives of local departments, leaders of business associations in Danang, Italian and Vietnamese companies in the fields of banking, infrastructure and agro- forestry & fishery.
Vice Chairman Phung Tan Viet stated that in 2015 Danang's exports to Italy amounted US$3.6 million, and improts from Italy valued at US$3.5 million. The main exported goods were textiles, aquaculture, fishing-rod, arts and crafts. The main imported goods were medicines, electronic devices, spare parts, garment materials. There are four Italy's FDI projects in Danang in processing and manufacturing industry and services with a total capital of US$1.2 million. Thus, he proposed that the economic relationship between Danang and Italy need to be promoted to make the best use of both localities' potential.
At the workshop, Mrs. Cecilia Piccioni emphasized that Italian and Danang businesses could find cooperation and investment opportunities in six fields that Italy has advantages including tourism, sports, environment, high-technology industry, climate change and training. Moreover, according to Ms. Cecilia Piccioni, another important aspect in which Italy could cooperate with Danang is to enhance the capacity of SMEs as both localities have similar manufacturing system- a backbone to support SMEs. On the other hand, based on Italy' experience, it is believed that Italy would provide a good model for Danang businesses to develop in the future.
Mrs. Bruna Santarelli- Representative of Italian Commercial Affairs in Vietnam said that Italian investors had expressed their interest in challenges and opportunities Vietnam is facing when participating in trade agreements and also its incentive policies for investors. Besides, many Italian investors are moving their factories from their traditional locations in Asia to Vietnam as they realize competitive advantages of Vietnam's investment environment and human resources. To better support Italian businesses, the Italian Commercial Affairs hoped that Danang authority would provide more information on business environment and investment opportunities in Danang for Italian investors.
Mr. Nguyen Hoang Long – Acting Director of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs hopes that after the visit to Da Nang, the Italian businesses would find suitable partners as well as explore more investment opportunities in Danang. He also urged Danang authority to make more effort in creating the mosst favourable conditions for Italian investors during their investment here.
At the end of the workshop, Vice Chairman Phung Tan Viet thanked the Ambassador and members of the delegation, as well as businesses for openly discussing the needs of the two sides, helping to create premises for future cooperation between Danang and Italy. He directed the Department of Foreign Affairs and Danang Investment Promotion Centre to coordinate with the Italian Embassy, and the Consulate General to Ho Chi Minh City, and Italian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam to organize promotional activities to further strengthen trade and investment relationships between Italy and Danang.
Translated by Ha My - IPC Danang
