Rome (VNA) – There are numerousoptimal factors for foreign businesses, including Italian ones, to do businessin Vietnam, said Stefano Balsamo, founder of the Diplomatia association andVice Chairman of J.P. Morgan in Italy.

He made the remark at a workshop on sustainableinvestment in Vietnam held by the Diplomatia association and the VietnameseEmbassy in Rome on April 12.

Balsamo said he had visited Vietnam and wasimpressed with the hospitality and friendliness of local people. It is alsonoteworthy that Vietnamese people’s consumption is growing.

Sharing his firm’s experience in Vietnam, ViceChairman at Piaggio & C. SpA Matteo Colaninno said in 2008, thanks to theVietnamese administration’s provision of favourable conditions, all necessaryprocedures for Piaggio’s production activities were handled quickly. Thecompany’s production scale expanded and its products made in Vietnam wereexported to other countries in 2009.

Vietnam is open to foreign direct investment andable to solve administrative procedures swiftly, he noted, adding that it is ayoung and dynamic country with an abundant workforce and high growth rate.

He said for Piaggio, Vietnam is an idealinvestment market and also a bridge for the company’s products to access otherSoutheast Asian and Asian markets.

For his part, Vietnamese Ambassador to Italy CaoChinh Thien briefed participants on Vietnam’s economy and policies for foreigninvestors, noting that the country is an emerging Asian market which has apopulation of more than 93 million with increasing middle class and an averageeconomic growth rate exceeding 6 percent annually over the last 10 years.

൲[Infographics: Vietnam-Italy economic and cultural relations]

The local business environment has improved andis highly valued by the international community. The World Economic Forumranked Vietnam’s competitiveness 55th among 137 economies, up five places. Thecountry also climbed 14 places to 68th position among 190 countries andterritories in the World Bank’s competitiveness rankings.

Thien said his country is also a gateway toaccess the vast ASEAN market with more than 600 million people.

Vietnam-Italy relations have been flourishing,especially since they signed a joint statement on a strategic partnership inJanuary 2013. Italy is one of the biggest European trade partners of Vietnamwhile Vietnam is the top ASEAN trade partner of Italy. Bilateral tradeapproximated 5 billion USD in the last three years. However, cooperationpotential remains huge considering the scale of the two economies andpurchasing power.

An important thing is that the two economies donot compete but are complementary to each other, he said, noting that once theEU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement takes effect, it will help both economies.These factors are optimum conditions for the two countries’ businesses toenhance investment and business partnerships.

The Vietnamese Government is implementingpolicies to improve national competitiveness, restructure the economy andchange the growth model with a focus on restructuring public investment,State-owned enterprises and the finance-banking system. It encouragessustainable and responsible investment, especially in high technology,environmentally friendly industries and smart agriculture.

Ambassador Thien affirmed that the VietnameseEmbassy in Italy is ready to assist Italian investors to do business inVietnam.-VNA