Door wide open for Vietnam-Italy textile cooperation

Marco Della Seta, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam, emphasized that garment and textile has been one of the strategic cooperation areas between the two countries, making an important contribution to bilateral trade turnover.

Last year, Vietnam exported textile and garment products worth US$309 million to Italy, accounting for 17.3% of the buyer’s total imports.

Both sides have continuously put forward initiatives and cooperation projects on technology transfer toward green production.

For his part, Laurent Franciosi, head of International Market Development at Cassa Depositi e Prestiti - CDP, a prominent Italian development bank, revealed that CDP has always actively supported cooperation between the two sides in recent times.

From October 2023, the online platform CDP Business Matching has launched the Vietnamese service, with a view to bringing the platform closer to Vietnamese clients.

With regard to the business environment in Vietnam, Andrea Galante, chairman of Madex Srl, a highly specialized company in the production of outerwear, stressed that Vietnam offers favourable conditions for business development, including political stability, smooth customs procedures, transparent and reliable supply chains, flexible workforce as well as high quality products with competitive advantages.

He added that Madex is currently the only Italian garment company that has built a factory in Vietnam, hoping that more Italian companies will set up factories in the country moving forward.

Taking the floor, Tran Thi Lan Anh, general secretary of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Italy is Vietnam’s fourth largest trading partner in the EU while Vietnam remains Italy’s largest trading partner in ASEAN.

The EU's launch of the Strategy for Sustainable and Circular Textiles and the "fabric forward" rule in the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA) has required Vietnamese firms to grasp new regulations and equip themselves with advanced technologies to meet export requirements and make further inroads into the demanding market, she noted.