Umberto Vattani, president of the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade (ICE), was addressing the press on the last day of the delegation’s four-day visit.

More than 300 Italian representatives wrapped up their ItaliaVietnam 2008 trip after holding meetings with more than 700 Vietnamese counterparts in both Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.

The visit was organized by ICE, the Italian Banks’ Association (ABI), the Italian Confederation of Industry Associations (Confindustria) and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI).

The trade volume between the two countries will increase and Vietnam would see more Italian investment in the next six months, Vattani said.

Ambrogio Taborelli, president of the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Association of Northern Italy, noted that a main part of Vietnamese and Italian SMEs originated from family businesses.

Many Italian SMEs are interested in exploring the Vietnamese market after the ItaliaVietnam 2008 trip, he said.

Leonardo Peli, marketing director of the Govoni Sim Bianca Impianti (GSBI), said his company had closed a deal to install a pneumatic conveyor system worth US$5 million next year for the Dung Quat Polypropylene Project in central Quang Ngai Province.

Currently, Italy ranks ninth among European Union investors in Vietnam with 28 projects capitalized at $114 million, Ministry of Planning and Investment said.

According to the General Statistics Office, the two-way trade between Vietnam and Italy reached $1.5 billion last year and $984 million in the first seven months of 2008.

Vietnam’s imports include machinery, leather, chemicals and household commodities and it exports footwear, garment and textiles, coffee and seafood to Italy.