A business forum between Viet Nam and Italy was held in Ha Noi on November 24 to help Vietnamese businesses update their knowledge and study new trends in technology and equipment. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Viet Nam had many opportunities for Italian businesses, said the Italian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Co-operation, Benedetto della Vedova, during a business forum between the two countries here yesterday.

The forum was designed to help Vietnamese businesses update their knowledge and study new trends in technology and equipment.

It was held by the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) in collaboration with the Italian Trade Agency.

The Italian deputy minister said the Vietnamese Government had made its business environment favorable to foreign investors.

He predicted that Viet Nam would become a gateway for Italian businesses entering the ASEAN market.

He said Italy would bring to Viet Nam its best technology and high-quality goods to compete in this market and to co-operate for the mutual benefit.

The Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Dang Huy Dong, said Viet Nam was in the process of economic recovery and had made strong economic reforms.

The country's macro-economic indicators remained stable and inflation was kept below 6 per cent. Viet Nam had also been renewing its investment and enterprise laws to create more favorable conditions for businesses.

Dong said that to expand the market for Vietnamese goods, Viet Nam needed technology support from advanced countries.

He said Viet Nam would assist Italian businesses with legal, socio and economic issues as well as investment procedures.

He added that it would also work closely with Italian businesses on investment processes, encouraging business ties with Vietnamese small and medium-size enterprises and providing information about labour, land prices, and other costs.

Italian businessmen said their investment in Viet Nam was modest, suggesting the two countries strengthen infrastructure and industrial production.

In recent years, economic and trade co-operation between Viet Nam and Italy has grown at 15-20 per cent. In the last 10 months, bilateral trade reached nearly US$3.4 billion, or equal to the turnover in 2013.

Of this figure, Viet Nam earned a turnover of $2.3 billion from exporting phone accessories, footwear, coffee and textiles while importing more than $1 billion of machinery, pharmaceutical, textile materials, and leather goods.

Italy remains the eighteenth largest export market and the fifteenth largest import market for Viet Nam. Grlowth reached 19 per cent per year from 2005-2011.

Italy has become Viet Nam's third largest trading partner in the EU. Two-way trade turnover hit three billion euro (US$3.7 billion) in 2013. — VNS