Vietnam has forged a strategic partnership with Italy and deepened its
strategic partnership with the United Kingdom.
During the Party’s General
Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong’s official visit to Italy on January 20-22, Trong
had talks with Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano and met with Italy’s Prime
Minister Mario Monti.
This year is for the two countries
to celebrate the 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations. The two sides issued
a joint statement on raising the existing comprehensive cooperation to a
strategic partnership to boost the bilateral relationship in all areas.
In terms of strengthening the
political-diplomatic cooperation, the two sides agreed to continue expanding
the exchange of high-level delegations. They also agreed to promote cooperation
between regions and localities of the two countries, particularly in the areas
of economy, trade and investment, education and training, culture and tourism.
Regarding economic relations,
Italy will support Vietnam’s economic development through sharing technologies
and experiences of Italian enterprises, in the fields of infrastructure like
roads, railways, urban transportation, ports and airports, mechanical
engineering industry - particularly for textile and garment, leather footwear,
wooden furniture, food and foodstuff processing and preservation, and
processing industry.
The two sides also promoted
specific public-private partnerships (PPP) and initiatives, in such fields as
infrastructure, energy, metallurgy, telecommunications, tourism, environment,
healthcare, fashion. Vietnam promised to create favourable conditions for
Italy’s investment projects in oil and gas extraction.
To facilitate the activities of
the two sides’ businesses and promote bilateral trade and investment, Vietnam
and Italy agreed to establish a Joint Commission on Economic Cooperation,
coordinated by Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Italy’s Ministry of
Economic Development and convened yearly on rotational basis.
According to the statement, the
two sides agreed to conclude a new protocol for the development assistance to
Vietnam for 2013-2015 through grants and concessional credits to support
Vietnam’s economic and social infrastructure. These efforts will focus on water
and environment, healthcare, human resources development and support for small-
and medium-sized enterprises.
The two sides will consider gradual
shifting from traditional cooperation areas towards new ones, such as climate
change response, scientific training and research and green/clean energy.
Besides establishing the
Vietnam-Italy strategic partnership, the two countries also clinched a memorandum
of understanding (MoU) on the Italy House project and an action programme on
educational cooperation between the two governments in 2013-2016. The other
inked MoUs cover cooperation between the two defence ministries, cooperation
and administrative assistance in the customs sector, and cooperation between
PetroVietnam and Italian National Oil and Gas Group. The Italian side granted
an oil and gas exploration and exploitation licence to PetroVietnam.
Meanwhile, during his visit to
the UK during January 22-23 Trong had talks with Prime Minister David Cameron,
in order to further sharpen the two countries’ bilateral strategic partnership
forged in 2010. This year will see Vietnam and the UK celebrate their 40th
anniversary of diplomatic ties.
The two sides issued a joint
statement, further underlining their continued commitment to achieving the
targets of increasing bilateral trade to $4 billion and British investment in
Vietnam to $3 billion this year.
Particularly, the UK pledged to
support the process of negotiation and signing of the Vietnam- EU Free Trade
Agreement, and early recognition of the Vietnamese economy’s market status,
while Vietnam vowed to further improve its investment environment, thus
enabling British businesses to operate more effectively in Vietnam. Both sides
welcomed Rolls-Royce’s intention to bid to supply engines for Vietnam Airlines’
fleet of Boeing in 2013.
This visit was also used by
Vietnam and the UK to sign the Vietnam–UK Plan of Action for 2013, the first
MoU on PPP, an agreement on establishing the bilateral defence working group
between the two ministries of Defence.
Both sides also clinched an MoU
on exchange of migration information between Vietnam’s Ministry of Public
Security and the UK’s Home Office, and an MoU on measures to promote the
establishment of the UK-Vietnam International University in Vietnam’s central
Danang city.
Also last week, during her
official visit to Vietnam during January 18-21, 2013, Argentina’s President
Cristina Fernandez had talks with Vietnam’s State President Truong Tan Sang and
met with Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and National Assembly Chairman Nguyen
Sinh Hung.
The leaders from both countries
vowed to further cement cooperation in trade, investment, agriculture, energy,
science-technology, health, and education and training. This year Vietnam and
Argentina will celebrate their 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations.
Thanh Dat | vir.com.vn
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