Economy, education and tourism focus of Italian president's visit to Vietnam
Ho Chi Minh City (AsiaNews) - Economic cooperation, strengthening strategic partnerships, industrial, diplomatic and defense projects, initiatives in the field of culture, education, science and tourism: These are just some of the many topics covered by the Italian president Sergio Mattarella, during his official visit to Vietnam - accompanied by his daughter Laura - from November 5 to 8. This was the first trip by a head of the Italian State in 42 years of official diplomatic relations between the two governments.
In Hanoi, President Mattarella met with his counterpart Trương Tấn Sang, with whom he signed several important cooperation agreements between Italy and Vietnam. Afterwards, he met with the secretary general of the Communist Party Nguyễn Phú Trọng, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung and Parliament President Nguyễn Sinh Hun.
Commenting on the President’s visit, the Italian ambassador to Vietnam Cecilia Piccioni stressed that the country "is the first destination in Asia for President Sergio Mattarella" confirming "the consideration that the Italian government nourishes” for Hanoi as a "strategic partner" for the continent.
In January 2013, the two countries signed a strategic partnership during the visit of Secretary General of the Communist Party in Italy. On that occasion Nguyễn Phú Trọng also met with Pope Benedict XVI.
Vietnamese Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh confirmed that "in recent years, the two countries have strengthened cooperation in all areas, including politics, diplomacy, business, culture, education, defense and security." In fact, in 2014 trade between Vietnam and Italy exceeded four billion dollars (4.08), and the trend is growing.
After the capital Hanoi, Mattarella also visited Ho Chi Minh City in the south of the country where he attended an economics conference and signed an agreement of cooperation between universities in the education sector.
On the last day of his visit, yesterday 8 November, the Italian head of state visited the archbishop of the former Saigon, Msgr. Bùi Văn Đọc and attended Mass celebrated by the prelate. The liturgy was concelebrated by Msgr. Leopoldo Girelli, non-resident papal representative for Vietnam, who in his homily spoke of issues related to land and food following on from Expo 2015. "The Earth produces a surplus of food, but episodes of famine still occur in some parts of world ". The Italian prelate added, "if we are not able to protect the environment in many parts of the world further disasters food will be repeated ".
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