The Italy–Vietnam Business Forum took place today in Hanoi, organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Italian Trade Agency (ITA) and Confindustria, and inaugurated by the Italian Deputy Minister for Enterprises and Made in Italy, Valentino Valentini, together with Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Finance, Ho Sy Hung.
The event was attended by Italy’s institutional agencies, including CDP, SACE and Simest. More than 60 Italian companies, represented by over 100 business delegates, participated alongside more than 300 Vietnamese companies. New opportunities emerged for Italian businesses in key sectors such as energy, infrastructure, mechanics and high technology. During the event, ten business agreements were signed and 200 B2B meetings took place between companies from the two countries.
Vietnam, one of the most dynamic economies in the region with a growth rate of 8% expected this year, views Italy as an increasingly important partner for industrial and technological cooperation in leading manufacturing sectors, with the aim of achieving its ambitious development targets and attaining high-income economy status by 2045.
With a market of 100 million consumers and an extensive network of free trade agreements that make it a strategic production platform for Asian markets, Vietnam is Italy’s leading trading partner in the ASEAN region, with bilateral trade exceeding EUR 6 billion and Italian exports up by 26% in the past year.
Vietnam is therefore a key country for achieving the goals of the Action Plan for Italian export in high-potential non-EU markets, presented by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani.
On the sidelines of the Business Forum, the Italian Ambassador to Hanoi, Marco della Seta, presented Italian companies with the Business Guide on opportunities in the Vietnamese market. The contents of the Action Plan for Italian export were also outlined, alongside the organisation of a roundtable to explore opportunities for cooperation in the field of energy transition and a visit to the Piaggio Group plant in Vietnam – the main production site of the Pontedera-based company outside Italy.
