April 21, 2022
HANOI — Vietnamese Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính spoke by telephone on Wednesday with his Italian counterpart Mario Draghi, welcoming the development of the Việt Nam-Italy strategic partnership.
The two leaders agreed to strengthen exchanges at all levels, especially at the high level, and to continue to promote the effectiveness of the action program for the implementation of the 2021-23 strategic partnership, cooperation mechanisms, in particular the organization of the 4th political consultation, the 7th joint commission on economic cooperation; and prepare to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations and the 10th anniversary of the strategic partnership between the two countries in 2023.
Both sides are pleased to see that after nearly two years of implementation of the Việt Nam-EU Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), bilateral trade exchanges have yielded positive results.
In 2021, despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the value of bilateral trade reached $5.6 billion, up 20% from 2020.
Prime Minister Chính spoke highly of Italy’s continued placement of Việt Nam on its list of priorities for trade and investment cooperation in the post-2020 period, and affirmed that Việt Nam will create all the conditions necessary favorable conditions for Italian companies to increase their investments in Việt Nam.
Prime Minister Chính called on Italy to quickly ratify the EU-Việt Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA), support Vietnamese efforts and urge the EU to withdraw the yellow card against seafood Vietnamese, soon to recognize Việt Nam’s COVID-19 vaccine passports and facilitate the entry of Vietnamese goods. access the Italian market, in particular agricultural products, foodstuffs and seasonal fruits such as mango, dragon fruit and lychee.
The Italian leader endorsed his Vietnamese counterpart’s proposals and initiatives to deepen the Việt Nam-Italy strategic partnership, and expressed his gratitude to Việt Nam for donating masks during the period when Italy was facing incredible challenges. due to COVID-19.
Prime Minister Draghi promised that the Italian government would push the Italian National Assembly to ratify EVIPA soon, reaffirming that Italian companies want to continue investing in Việt Nam in the fields of renewable energy, infrastructure, resource management in water and innovation.
The Vietnamese Prime Minister thanked Italy for its active cooperation in handling the recent fraud case involving a number of Vietnamese cashew exporters. Prime Minister Draghi affirmed that Italy is very interested in this case, ordered the authorities to prevent the delivery of the cashew nut containers to third parties and to continue to investigate and take the case to court.
On this occasion, Prime Minister Chính expressed his sincere thanks to the Prime Minister, the government and the people of Italy for providing more than 2.8 million doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine to Việt Nam through the COVAX mechanism.
During the call, Prime Minister Chính spoke about Việt Nam’s strong commitments at the recent UNCOP26 summit on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, transitioning to a green and circular economy with the aim of achieving net-zero emissions by 2050. Prime Minister Chính proposed that Italy, as an important G7 and EU member country, support Việt Nam in accessing finance and technology to make in the face of climate change, as well as to promote digital transformation, the green economy and renewable energy programs, in particular by supporting the establishment of a just energy transition partnership with Việt Nam.
The Italian Prime Minister highly appreciated Việt Nam’s commitment to UNCOP26, underlining Italy’s willingness to support Việt Nam in the field of fair energy transition.
The two prime ministers agreed to coordinate closely in multilateral forums such as the UN, UNESCO, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) and the ASEAN-EU framework.
The Italian Prime Minister highly appreciated the fact that the authorities of the two countries are coordinating closely in the organization of the “ASEAN-Italy Dialogue on Sub-Regional Cooperation” on sustainable development, water resources management and response to the disasters, in parallel with the promotion of regional and sub-regional cooperation. – regional links.
The two leaders also discussed international and regional issues of mutual concern, including the issue of the South China Sea and the importance of resolving disputes through peaceful means based on international law, especially the United Nations Convention. on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982.
On this occasion, Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính invited Prime Minister Mario Draghi to make an official visit to Việt Nam soon. Prime Minister Draghi accepted the invitation and, in return, invited the Vietnamese leader to visit Italy at the appropriate time.
