Vietnam, Italy ink tourism, development agreements

Vietnam and Italy have signed cooperation agreements on tourism and development during the visit to Italy by State President Nguyen Minh Triet.
Also on the occasion, the Vietnamese and Italian education ministries inked a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in research, science and education.
Meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Belusconi in Milan on December 12, President Triet stressed that Italy is an important partner of Vietnam and that the two countries have high potential for expanding and boosting their relations in a wide range of fields.
For his part, the Italian PM said he believed that President Triet’s first State visit to Italy will open a new chapter in the two countries’ ties and that high-level agreements signed during this visit will be significant to the Italian business circle.
PM Belusconi confirmed that his country has attached importance to stepping up multi-faceted cooperation with Vietnam, especially that between small and medium-sized enterprises.
The Italian leader also pledged that he himself will pay attention to increasing the two countries’ cooperation in the cultural, television and sports domains to enable the promotion of each country’s image in another and boost mutual understanding between the two peoples.
He told President Triet that he will suggest the AC Milan football team visit Vietnam during the 1,000 th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi along with sending a business delegation to Vietnam to prepare for the formulation of specific cooperation projects between the two countries.
PM Belusconi said he will arrange things to soon visit Vietnam at the invitation of Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung.
Late on the day, President Triet met with representatives of the Vietnamese community in Italy and Italian friends.
On December 13, President Triet and his entourage left Milan to head for Spain , the second leg of his European tour from Dec. 9-18./.