On May 14, 2024, Agribank held a working session with the Italian Embassy in Vietnam and SACE insurance-financial group (Italy) to seek opportunities to access USD capital guaranteed by SACE as well as promote cooperation in the Italian market. Attending the meeting were also leaders of the Department of International Cooperation - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam.

Speaking at the meeting, Ms. Nguyen Thi Phuong, Deputy General Director of Agribank was very pleased to welcome the delegation and thanked the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam as well as the Italian Embassy in Vietnam for supporting and facilitating the organization of the meeting with SACE Group. She highly appreciated the potential for cooperation with banks in the Italian market as well as the ability to connect with Italian businesses, especially in the field of agricultural machinery export financing.

At the meeting, Mr. Francesco Arcuri, First Secretary of the Italian Embassy in Vietnam, said that Vietnam has a strong agriculture and Vietnam's food production value chain is extremely impressive. With the development momentum, the demand for imported agricultural machinery is increasing rapidly over the years. This is also Italy's export strength, and Italian businesses are eager to promote the export of their products to Vietnam. Mr. Arcuri emphasized that the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Ministers of Agriculture of the two countries Italy and Vietnam during the visit of the Italian Minister of Agriculture in March 2024 is a premise to promote and create favorable conditions for the development of cooperative relations between Agribank and SACE Group.

Mr. Flavio Castri, Senior Relationship Manager for Southeast Asia and the Pacific region of SACE, said that SACE Group was established by the Italian Government with the mission of promoting the export of Italy's strong products. SACE is a big group with a long history and extensive experience in the field of finance-insurance. Currently, SACE Group is looking for partners within the framework of the Push strategy, through which the Group will guarantee loans granted from major credit institutions in the world (lending banks) for its partners. According to Mr. Castri, the loans that SACE guarantees will be very flexible in terms of lending terms, interest rates, and will have no ties to Italian exports and services. Through the signing of the agreement, SACE Group will also organize annual networking events between Italian and Vietnamese businesses, and we hope Agribank will introduce its customers to these events.

At the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Do Anh Tuan, Director of the Department of International Cooperation - Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development of Vietnam said that Vietnam - Italy relations are at an extremely favorable time, with the Government of the two countries focusing on promoting. He affirmed that Agribank is one of the largest banks in Vietnam, with the widest network in the banking system, especially in rural, remote areas and islands. Agribank's cooperation with SACE Group will promote the connection between Agribank's customers and Italian businesses, especially in importing agricultural machinery from this country, contributing to realizing the the mechanization in agriculture.

At the end of the meeting, Deputy General Director Nguyen Thi Phuong hoped that Agribank and SACE Group could sign a cooperation agreement, helping Agribank have a stable medium and long-term source of foreign currency capital to serve its customer needs, strengthening investment connections between Vietnamese and Italian businesses in the agricultural sector, contributing to further promoting the relationship between the two countries.

Kylie Nguyen