Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien
At the meeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Thien appreciated Italy’s assistance to Vietnam in restoring world cultural heritage site My Son Sanctuary, asking the European nation to continue supporting his country to protect and restore UNESCO-recognised cultural heritage.Vietnam is ready to coordinate with Italy in exchange programmes and sharing experience in art performance, music and sports, he added.Hailing Italy’s cultural values and tourism potential, Thien expressed his hope for cooperation with the country to expand tourism promotion programmes and create favourable conditions to increase Vietnamese and Italian tourists to each other’s countries.Deputy Minister Bainchi pledged to step up cooperation in training preservationists and sending experts to Vietnam to get directly involved in restoring local historical and cultural relics. Italy is also ready to organise sports cooperation programmes such as a sports summer camp for Vietnamese youth to attend short-term football training courses in Italy.She said she is impressed with Vietnam’s landscapes and tourism potential, asking the Vietnamese Government to provide more optimal conditions for tourism promotion activities such as extending the validity of visas into Vietnam for Italian tourists or allowing Italian tourists to exit and enter the country many times.The two officials agreed to step up coordination to successfully organise Vietnam’s tourism promotion programme in Italy this October and the Italian Culture Week in Asia in Vietnam one month later.