600 B2B meetings organised under Italian business mission to Vietnam 2017

The Italian Business Mission event highlights the budding ties between Vietnam and Italy

These meetings are organised in the framework of the three-day event “Italian Business Mission to Vietnam 2017” by the Italian Trade Commission (ICE), the Italian Banks’ Association, and the Italian Confederation of Industry Associations, with strong support from the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vietrade, and the Italian Embassy.

The mission, which was kicked off in Hanoi today and will last for three days (November 27-28 in Hanoi and November 29 in Ho Chi Minh City), attracts a delegation of 150, representing world-leading Italian brands and more than 600 Vietnamese enterprises.

Speaking at the opening ceremony, Cecilia Piccioni, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam, said that orgainising the “Italian Business Mission to Vietnam 2017” event show the two countries’ efforts to realise the commitments between the two countries’ leaders to increase co-operation in the energy, infrastructure and transport, and machinery sectors, among others.

The relationship between the two countries has been elevated to strategic partnership and comprehensive co-operation. Besides, Vietnam and Italy are both signatories to the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA).

The two countries have complementary strengths, which makes them a good fit to help each other develop. Notably, Italy is known as the world’s leading country for energy, infrastructure and transport, machinery, textile, leathers and footwear, food processing and packaging, plastic or building material industries, while Vietnam has seen strong growth in terms of socioeconomic development, thus it has an increasing demand for capital and expertise in transport infrastructure and other industries.

However, trade and investment co-operation is still limited. Italy is the fifth-ranking partner of Vietnam in Europe. As of September 2017, Italy ranked 31^st among 126 nations and territories investing in Vietnam, with 82 investment projects worth more than $600 million. In 2016, the two countries' bilateral export turnover reached $5.14 billion, up 7 per cent only. In the first six months of this year, the figure was $3.47 billion.

“Through this event, Italy wants to provide more advanced technology equipment and automation at competitive prices and high productivity, while also focusing on infrastructure and renewable energy in Vietnam,” said Ivan Scalfarotto, Italian Deputy Minister of Economic Development.

“Italy does not only wish to co-operate in the area of trade as in previous years, but wants to help Vietnam develop, support both human resources training and skills development,” he added.

The partnership and co-operation agreement (PCA) between Vietnam and Italy effective since October 2016, and the EU-Vietnam FTA to be signed in 2018 will define the basic rules for comprehensive relations between Vietnam and EU members in general and between the two countries in particular.

Giorgio Fiorin, director of Sabai S.r.l

In this working visit to Vietnam, We want to co-operate with Vietnamese enterprises to develop a joint venture company to distribute machinery in the healthcare sector. We saw numerous Italian enterprises operating in Vietnam, all of whom are operating with profit and are planning to expand operations in Vietnam.

We hope to find suitable Vietnamese partners after the B2B meetings in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

Ivan Scalfarotto

Italian enterprises have numerous reasons to invest in Vietnam as the country posts strong growth across most all industries sectors. Besides, Vietnam is considered Italy’s leading trade partner in Asia.

Vietnam has been making efforts to realise its commitment to diversify multilateral diplomatic relations, thus, it has reformed administrative procedures to lure in foreign investors as well as to increase trade relationships.

Michele D'Ercole, ICham chairman

Italian enterprises are making assurances to invest in Vietnam because the country is politically stable with numerous tariff incentives. Besides, Vietnamese workers are quick to absorb technology. Almost all Italian enterprises have expanded their operations after two or three years of operating in Vietnam. For example, to date, Piaggio has poured $80 million into Vietnam. In August 2009, Datalogic Vietnam received official approval from Saigon Hi-Tech Park to establish a manufacturing and design centre with a total investment capital sum of $5 million, which has risen to $90 million ever since.

Nguyen Anh Thu, representative of Secoin Corporation

I know Italian suppliers for a long time now, and they have time and again convinced us to trust the quality of their products. Currently, we are looking for a partner to import machinery to produce cement tiles. Italy is our best choice for the famed quality of its machinery.

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