More Italian firms are saying forza Vietnam

November 28, 2011 | 08:09

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With trade and investment between Italy and Vietnam on the rise and in the wake of a recent successful business mission by 24 Tuscany wineries to Vietnam earlier this month, Damiano Francovigh, head of Economics and Commercial Section of the Italian embassy to Vietnam, shares with VIR his vision of the potential cooperation between the two countries.

How was the Tuscany business mission meaningful to promoting trade between Italy and Vietnam?

Since early 2011, the Italian embassy, through our trade promotion agency in Vietnam – the Italian Trade Commission – has launched a range of trade promotion events for Italian businesses in Vietnamese market.

The visit of 24 Tuscany wine makers under the “Tuscany – the land of wine” trade promotion programme followed on from the successful “Enjoy the amazing taste of Siena wines” series in 2010. It provided a chance for participants to look for potential business partnership through bilateral meetings with Vietnamese companies.

Why do you think Italian companies are increasingly interested in the Vietnamese market?

Vietnam seems to draw increasing interest from Italian companies, at least for the last three years, including Tuscany businesses. In the near future, more businesses from Siena will come to Vietnam in search for partnership and investment opportunities.

Through the Italian Trade Commission, we are receiving more and more requests for information about Vietnam from Italian companies. This also explains why the Siena Chamber of Commerce signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade’s Trade Promotion Agency (VietTrade) last year to boost bilateral trade between Italy and Vietnam.

I believe Italian companies are now very interested in areas where Vietnam has advantages, including footwear leather, agricultural produce, aquaculture, coffee, and textiles, among others.

In addition to the Italian Trade Commission which certainly always keeps a close eye on Italian companies, we are also doing all we can to help our businesses find out what the Vietnamese market has that they want and forge partnership links between the two countries.

What particular trade promotion plans does the Italian embassy have for 2012?

We are now working on a road show plan for February 2012. In this special road show event, Italian companies will share their success stories and valuable experience in the Vietnamese market.

This is also a chance for Italian businesses to share knowledge with others on how to be successful when doing business in Vietnam or what you need to know to do business in Vietnam. This event will probably include the participation of some businesses from the Vietnamese side.