President Mattarella spoke highly of the ambassador’s contributions to developing the friendship and co-operation between Italy and Vietnam in recent years, thus lifting the bilateral relationship to the level of strategic partnership.
He took the occasion to award a ‘Medal of merit’ – the Italian State’s most noble award - to the ambassador in recognition of his significant contributions.
Ambassador Nguyen Hoang Long expressed his honour at receiving the medal and thanked the President and Italian authorities for supporting the development of the Vietnam-Italy strategic partnership. He pledged to do his utmost to continue to boost the two nations’ relations.
The ambassador reiterated State President Truong Tan Sang’s invitation to President Mattarella to pay a State-level visit to Vietnam in the coming time. The Italian leader accepted the invitation with pleasure and promised to visit Vietnam soon.
