Nam Dinh calls for Italian investment in maritime, green economy

Rome (VNA) – A delegation from the northern province of Nam Dinh, led by Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Pham Gia Tuc, paid a working visit to Italy from October 25-26, aiming to call for Italian investment in maritime economy and green economy.

At a conference on Vietnam-Italy partnership in the maritime economy and green economy with the highlight being Nam Dinh, Tuc said that the province always welcomes investors, especially those from Italy, to explore the local investment environment and opportunities. Nam Dinh province considers the success of investors as its own, he said.

Meanwhile, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy Duong Hai Hung said that the presence of Nam Dinh leaders and representatives from localities in the central and southern regions of Italy, and many local businesses at the conference showed great demands and potential of cooperation between the two sides in the context that relations between Vietnam and Italy have been growing fruitfully after 50 years of establishment.

The diplomat expressed his hope that the two sides will specifically evaluate their partnership potential, thus fostering the collaboration between Nam Dinh and Italy, especially in areas of green economy, maritime economy and digital economy.

Introducing the investment environment of Nam Dinh, Permanent Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Tran Anh Dung said that the province has a strategic location, abundant workforce, stable economic growth, competitive production costs, open administrative procedures, and huge industrial land reserves.

Nam Dinh is prioritising high-quality foreign investment projects with high, new and environmentally-friendly technologies, modern governance, high added value and strong influence, and high efficiency in connecting global production and supply chains, he said.

Dung said that Nam Dinh sees investors as its honourable citizens, while standing ready to provide them with all information they need, protecting their ownership of assets, investment capital, and legal incomes, and supplying them with necessary infrastructure systems.

For his part, President of the Regional Council of Puglia Cera Napoleone said that the visit by the Nam Dinh delegation and the conference provided chances for Puglia and Nam Dinh to strengthen partnership, enabling the region to access Vietnam and Asia, one of the markets that the region is interested in, especially in the fields of maritime economy and green economy.

He noted that the maritime economy accounts for 5.5% of the region's total economic production. Currently, an important priority of the Puglia region is to comprehensively promote marine economic awareness and capacity for local administrations, ministries, businesses, and workforces, Napoleone said.

He said that Puglia is emerging as Italia’s important hub of aviation, automation, mechanical engineering, renewable energy, and marine economy. The region can cooperate with Nam Dinh and Vietnam in the fields of sustainable exploitation of oil and gas, renewable energy such as offshore wind power, aquaculture and fishing, marine tourism, capacity building and professional knowledge on maritime management, biodiversity conservation, and marine environment protection.

Director of the Tourism Department of Prato city in Toscana region Gabrielle Bosi said that the city signed a twinned agreement with Nam Dinh in 1975, and has shared historical, cultural and people-to-people connections as well as high cooperation potential with Vietnam. The conference was a chance for the two sides to re-connect and strengthen their friendship, he said, affirming that his city hopes to welcome more delegations and businesses of Nam Dinh.

Over the years, locality-to-locality cooperation has been a highlight in the Vietnam-Italy partnership, with the establishment of many twinned relations, including between Hanoi and Lazio and Roma; Binh Duong and Binh Phuoc provinces and Emilia Romagna region; Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Yen Bai provinces and Veneto; and Lam Dong with Como./.