Italy's "strategic partnership" with Vietnam will propel the annual value of bilateral trade to six billion dollars in 2020, premier Giuseppe Conte said Wednesday after talks in Hanoi with Vietnamese prime minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.
"We had a very fruitful meeting in which we confirmed the excellent state of relations between Italy and Vietnam," Conte told reporters at a joint press conference with Phuc.
"We intend to boost these ties with a broad programme of initiatives," Conte added.
Vietnam is an increasingly important market for Italy and "is our number-one partner in southeast Asia, Conte said.
"Bilateral trade is forecast to be worth six billion dollars by 2020," he said.
Conte is on a two-day visit to Vietnam and on Thursday will give the opening address at the third High-Level Dialogue on Asean Italy Economic Relations, according to a statement from Conte's office.
The event is being attended by ministers and business leaders as well as the heads of European and Asian institutions, according to its organisers.
