At the event organized by EuroCham, the Ambassador also said Italian businesses foreign direct investment in Vietnam has expanded significantly over recent years to record high levels.

 “We hope that more Italian businesses will make full use of the Vietnam-EU free trade agreement to expand their business operations in Vietnam and use it as a springboard to make inroads into the ASEAN market,” said Ambassador Picciono.

Lastly, she revealed that an Italian business delegation recently made fact-finding tours of Vinh Phuc, Hue and Danang seeking investment and economic opportunities and their initial reports are very positive.Official figures show that Vietnam’s total trade with Italy for 2015 was US$4 billion, with exports reaching a record high US$2.851 billion resulting in a favourable trade surplus of US$1.15 billion.