HCMCity (VNA) – Vietnam wants to enhance cooperation with Italy intourism promotion, cultural exchange, heritage preservation and sports,Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Ngoc Thien told Italian Deputy Ministerof Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism Donari Bainchi on September 7.

At themeeting in Ho Chi Minh City, Thien appreciated Italy’s assistance to Vietnam inrestoring world cultural heritage site My Son Sanctuary, asking the Europeannation to continue supporting his country to protect and restore UNESCO-recognisedcultural heritage.

Vietnamis ready to coordinate with Italy in exchange programmes and sharing experiencein art performance, music and sports, he added.

HailingItaly’s cultural values and tourism potential, Thien expressed his hope forcooperation with the country to expand tourism promotion programmes and createfavourable conditions to increase Vietnamese and Italian tourists to each other’scountries.

DeputyMinister Bainchi pledged to step up cooperation in training preservationistsand sending experts to Vietnam to get directly involved in restoring local historical andcultural relics. Italy is also ready to organise sports cooperation programmessuch as a sports summer camp for Vietnamese youth to attend short-term footballtraining courses in Italy.

She said she is impressed with Vietnam’s landscapes and tourism potential, asking theVietnamese Government to provide more optimal conditions for tourism promotionactivities such as extending the validity of visas into Vietnam for Italian tourists or allowingItalian tourists to exit and enter the country many times.

The two officials agreed to step up coordination to successfullyorganise Vietnam’s tourism promotion programme in Italy this October and theItalian Culture Week in Asia in Vietnam one month later.-VNA