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PRESS RELEASE

Embassy of Italy

Hanoi

PRESS RELEASE

The Embassy of Italy in Hanoi is organising a seminar on “Co-operation perspectives and commercial opportunities between Italy and Vietnam in the field of small and medium-sized enterprises”, in collaboration with the Agency for the Development of SMEs (ASMED) of the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

The seminar will take place in Hanoi on the 25^th of October at the Sofitel Metropole, Thang Long Hall, 15 Ngo Quyen Street from 8.00 am.

The Seminar aims at providing an arena for presenting Vietnamese SMEs sector needs, challenges and opportunities and Italian knowledge and expertise with the aim of match making Countries operators, academia and professionals to further enhance the Development and Commercial Cooperation between Italy and Vietnam.

During the Plenary Sessions cross cutting issues of major relevance for the development of the SMEs such as the “Status of the legal framework”, the availability of products and services relating to “Financial Tools and Finance Providers & Institutions “and to “Professional Education & Training” will be presented. In the afternoon sessions participants will be invited to sit in round tables where they will discuss and comment the needs of SMEs in the three sectors: agro-industry, tourism, garment and footwear.

The following Organizations are expected to attend the Seminar:

From Vietnam: Ministry of Planning and Investment, Vietnamese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Industry, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Education and Training, Vietnam Nation Administration of Tourism, Entrepreneurs and Associations of the three sectors selected.
From Italy: Banks, Universities, Associations, Law Firms, Entrepreneurs, NGOs
International Organisations: UNIDO Vietnam, Delegation of the European Commission
Italian Trade Commission Office in Ho Chi Minh City and the Italian Business Association in Vietnam

For further information or inquiry please contact: Ms Ida D’Alessandro or Ms Trang Hong Hanh (Communication and Information Officers); (04) 8256256 ext 17-18; [email protected]

The Government of Italy is sustaining the growth of the private sector participating with a large number of Donor Countries, on a partnership basis, to assist Vietnam in the development of the private sector. The Italian Development Cooperation has sponsored projects in the following fields:

To design the Roadmap for SME Sector’s Development,
To establish the national and provincial SME Support Infrastructure, consisting of the national and local Agencies for SMEs promotion, as well as
To facilitate Vietnam’s accession to the WTO.

The Vietnamese Government has now firmly committed itself to promote the development of the private sector: on the occasion of the last SME Partnership Group Meeting held in Hanoi in June 2005, the former Director of the Agency for SME Development (ASMED) and newly appointed MPI Vice Minister Nguyen Ngoc Phuc highlighted “the importance of the SME sector as engine of Vietnam’s economic and social growth … being the entrepreneurial activity at the same time source of employment generation and deterrent to poverty, especially in rural and remote areas”.

Therefore there is a wide scope for cooperation and business opportunities in Vietnam in sectors where Italy has a competitive advantage in terms of experience and know-how. Now is the right time for participating: Vietnam is on the verge to become a member of the WTO and in this context is fast reforming its legal and financial systems creating an investment climate “levelled playing field”, increasingly open, friendly and certain.

EMBASSY OF ITALY HANOI PRESS RELEASE THE