Intensifying trade information exchange between Vietnam and Italy, and seeking investment partners and the best cooperation mechanism to promote potential of the Vietnamese market were spotlighted at a seminar on cooperation and investment into Vietnam held in Genoa, Italy on November 19.

The event was part of the “Vietnam Days in Genoa” held by the Vietnamese Embassy and the Italy-Vietnam Friendship Association to celebrate the two countries’ 40-year diplomatic ties.

Addressing the seminar, Vietnamese Ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long spoke highly of bilateral trade ties in recent times. However, trade has yet to match potential, he said.

Italy now ranks ninth among countries and territories investing in Vietnam. As of September, the country poured investment into 50 projects in various fields in Vietnam with the total capital of 257 million USD.

In recent years, many business delegations from Italy’s Emilia-Romagna and Toscana regions have visited Vietnam to seek partners.

On the day, potential of the Vietnamese market, its main products and investment and cooperation opportunities in the country were introduced at an international workshop on trade in Salerno, south Italy.

A number of economic seminars were held in Italy recently, offering local businesses the chance to meet and establish partnership with Vietnamese partners.

A Vietnam economic office is scheduled to be set up in Lombardia in 2014 and another in the Puglia region is under discussion in order to provide investors with necessary information about the Vietnamese market and promote investment into the country.-VNA