The unparalleled event ItaliaVietnam 2008, held in both Hanoi and Ho ChiMinh City in early November, has hosted over 1,800 business-to-business (B2B) match-making meetings between Italian and Vietnamese companies. Shortly before, Italy’s second largest bank, Intesa SanPaolo, has opened its representative office in Vietnam after a year of consideration. A strengthening of offices dealing with bilateral economic relations is on its way, while some important results in this area, as for instance the Investment desk in the Italian Trade Commission’s offce in Ho ChiMinh City, have already been achieved. A brand new Italian Chamber of Commerce in Vietnam has just taken off, thanks to a group of Italian entrepreneurs doing business here. A very strong 2007 in terms of trade and investments between the two countries is being followed in 2008 by a repetition of those results, albeit growth is not as strong. From many points of view an upgraded partnership between Italy and Vietnam appears to be shaping up. “Vietnam is a strategic and friendly partner for Italy and a very popular country in Italy; I believe Italy is also popular in Vietnam. All this helped us very much when organizing ItaliaVietnam, a series of events aiming at making a 260-strong Italian delegation learn more about business opportunities in Vietnam. It’s noteworthy that the mission was led by the Minister for Economic Development Mr. Claudio Scajola, which shows the Italian government’s commitment to strengthening bilateral economic relations. We are very pleased to be here” said Umberto Vattani, President of the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE). The biggest ever Italian economic mission to Vietnam made a visit to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City between November 4th and 7th, 2008. The series of events was organized by ICE, the Italian Banks’ Association (ABI) and the Italian Confederation of Industry Associations (Confindustria) with the support of Vietnam’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and other industry and regional business associations from both countries.