UNIDO – Italy – Vietnam: a successful triangular partnership

Within the visit of the Vietnamese Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Mr. Hoang Quoc Vuong, UNIDO, in cooperation with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Vietnamese Embassy in Italy, organized a roundtable to present the investment opportunities offered by this country.

Among the Vietnamese delegates, noteworthy was the General Director of the AIP – Agency for Industrial Promotion, Mr. Do Xuan Ha, who signed an agreement with UNIDO ITPO Italy considering a joint action plan which aims at increasing competitiveness and fostering the cooperation between Vietnamese and Italian stakeholders.

According to the development programme implemented by the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, investment will be prioritized in renewal of equipment and technologies to develop industrial production and high-tech industries aimed at raising productivity and quality, as well as export competitiveness. Focus will also made in targets for sustainable growth, environmental protection and response to climate change, and improvement of human resources quality. To achieve the targets, in 2003, the Ministry instructed the AIP: closely cooperating with provincial industrial and trade services, the agency should implement synchronous measures to ensure effective implementation of the set targets on industrial promotion approved by the Ministry, focussing on SMEs’ development.

Within this framework, considering the great success of the first step of the SME Cluster Development Programme implemented by UNIDO in Vietnam, the event included also an introduction about the future strategies to carry forward during the second step of this UNIDO’s programme. Since the Vietnamese market is a strategic access point for the whole ASEAN region, several Italian companies, particularly from Friuli-Venezia-Giulia Region and Basilicata Region, offered their greater involvement by developing a joint action plan among Italian woodworking and mechanical clusters in order to transfer technical assistance to Vietnamese companies, as well as to start up an industrial settlements through joint ventures.