Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi received the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, Bui Thanh Son, at the Farnesina today.
This was the third meeting for the two, after Minister Terzi’s visit to Vietnam in February 2012 with a trade delegation, and Deputy Minister Son’s participation in the ASEAN Awareness Forum in Rome in March. In terms of bilateral relations, Italy is seeing a high frequency of visits in this period. Indeed, further visits to our country by members of the Vietnamese Government are scheduled in coming months, in the run-up to the 40th anniversary, in 2013, of the opening of diplomatic relations.
Terzi and Son both expressed their satisfaction over these closer bilateral contacts and went on to focus on the content of the bilateral Strategic Partnership Agreement currently under negotiation.
Foreign Minister Terzi also underscored our Development Cooperation Directorate’s strong commitment to development in Vietnam. He hoped that collaboration would extend to both countries’ economies, in light of the significant contribution that Italian companies could play in strengthening Vietnam’s private sector. Indeed, a “Vietnam Road Show” has already been held in Italy, in April 2012, to showcase the opportunities that the new Vietnamese “public-private partnership” law has opened up to our businesses in the infrastructure sector.
Minister Terzi and Deputy Minister Son reiterated their shared interested in strengthening bilateral relations in the cultural, scientific and academic spheres.
The two also exchanged views on the eurozone crisis and key international issues, most notably the outlook for the Syrian crisis.
