The Defence Ministries of Vietnam and Italy should enhance the effectiveness of their cooperation mechanism, a Vietnamese senior officer said at the second defense policy dialogue between the two countries held in Italy.

At the dialogue 

Vietnamese Deputy Defence Minister Sen. Lt. Gen. Nguyen Chi Vinh made the suggestion at the dialogue, which was part of his working visit to Italy from April 27-30, noting that bilateral defence cooperation has failed to meet expectation in the past time. 

He introduced Vietnam’s participation in the United Nations peacekeeping activities and expressed his belief that Italy will become an important partner of Vietnam in this field. 

Vinh added that Vietnam also hopes to strengthen ties with Italy in the defence industry and in military logistics, medicine and training. 

The Vietnamese deputy defence minister briefed the Italian side on the security situation in Asia-Pacific, saying the region is facing security challenges such as development gap, territorial dispute, nuclear threat and other non-conventional security challenges.

Regarding the East Sea issue, the Vietnamese officer stressed Vietnam’s consistent stance on settling all disputes by peaceful measures on the basis of international law.  

He took the occasion to convey Defence Minister Ngo Xuan Lich’s invitation to the Italian Defence Minister to visit Vietnam in the future.

For his part, Domenico Rossi, State Secretary for Defence of Italy, who co-chaired the dialogue, highlighted the flourishing development of the Vietnam-Italy relations across fields. 

He reaffirmed the Italian Government’s support for defence cooperation between the two countries. 

The Italian side will continue receiving Vietnamese officers to participate in training courses in institutes and schools of the Italian army, he stated. 

He also shared his country’s position on issues in the world, the region and the fight against terrorism.

As part of the visit, the Vietnamese officer met with Italy’s Defence Commander General Claudio Graziano, and visited a number of Italian defence enterprises. 

In an interview granted to Italy-based Vietnam News Agency’s correspondent, Deputy Minister Vinh stressed that the dialogue is a new development step in the defence ties between the two countries. 

According to the Deputy Minister, the Italian side has demonstrated their wish to promote defence links with Vietnam, especially in defence policy and strategy, in order to build a more comprehensive defence relationship between the two countries in the context of changes in the region and the world. 

The European country also hopes to expand ties with Vietnam in defence industry, military trade, and other fields. 

Vinh affirmed that Italy plays an important role in Vietnam’s foreign policy and the enhanced defence links will contribute to strengthening the strategic partnership between the two countries. 

Cooperating with Italy will help Vietnam’s army improve the quality of technical equipment and the training of officers, he said.

The Defence Ministries of Vietnam and Italy signed an MoU on cooperation after the two countries set up their strategic partnership in 2013.

VNA