Goals: to encourage economic growth and promote Italian culture
Carlotta Colli, the new Italian Consul General in Ho Chi Minh City, spoke with PEI News on the opening of the new diplomatic mission there. “The Consulate General is the result of a desire to increase and strengthen our institutional presence in order to help our businesses achieve their goals, and to monitor the market with a view to identifying new trade and investment opportunities open to firms not yet operating in Vietnam”. “
There is great interest and a great desire to reinforce cooperation with Vietnam, particularly with Ho Chi Minh City. The city is the commercial and financial heart of a new “frontier economy” that has been garnering the increased attention of Italian firms over recent years, many of which have made fruitful investments in both Ho Chi Minh City and the Province of Binh Duong”, the diplomat continued. “We receive inquiries on the Vietnamese market on a daily basis from small and medium sized Italian businesses, and the issuance of entry visas for Italy directly from Ho Chi Minh City could provide a boost to economic cooperation. Finally, we must not forget that each and every business present here contributes to the development of our community of resident nationals, to whom we must be able to provide full assistance in case of emergency, as well as consular services in situ.
The Italian community in this consular district currently counts 350 individuals registered in the AIRE, along with a growing number of temporary visitors”.
The consulate is also proposing to “facilitate and increase the number of entry visas issued in correspondence with the 2015 Milan EXPO”. Finally, “our consulate will act as a point of reference for young Vietnamese cultivating an interest in Italy and our culture; particularly, the students of Italian language and culture departments with whom we are already looking into the organisation of activities that could complement their studies. “In brief”, the consul concluded, “we will be concentrating on combining the goals of economic growth with a broad range of cultural offerings”.
