Rome (VNA) – A workshop held recently in Perugia, Italy, discussed opportunitiesfor business investments between Vietnamese and Italian firms once theEU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) come into effect.

At theevent, Trade Counsellor of the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy Nguyen Duc Thanhintroduced Vietnam’s current situation of high economic growth, stable politics,abundant human resources, and open investment attraction policy.

MicheleFioroni, deputy mayor of Perugia, said Vietnam’s economic scale, features andstrategic location in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and in theregion is drawing attention of Italian businesses.

Advantagesbrought about by the EVFTA and Italian production strengths will give localcompanies numerous opportunities to exploit the Vietnamese market, he said,urging the group to speed up market studies, investment promotion and productadvertisement to capitalize on such benefits.

Walter Cavrenghi,General Secretary of the Italy-Vietnam chamber of commerce, considered the EVFTAa win-win deal.

The officialsaid Italian investors came to Vietnam late compared to other European peers, andadvised Italian firms to prioritise trade-investment promotion and cooperationwith Vietnam’s small- and medium-sized enterprises. 

AlessandraCursio, who oversees external relations at the chamber, said if signed, thepact will be the most ambitious and comprehensive FTA between the EU and adeveloping country.

With 99percent of tariff lines removed, Italy will benefit from exporting machines,leather, medicines, chemicals, garment-textile and food products to Vietnam,she added.

Concludingthe workshop, participants, who included Italian enterprises eyeing theVietnamese market, agreed on the importance of the EVFTA to both the bloc and Vietnam,hoping EU member countries to soon sign and ratify the pact.-VNA