1. JOINT PRESS RELEASE
January 10 th, 2011
The Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) - Directorate General for Development
Cooperation - the Ministry of Planning and Investment of Vietnam (MPI), the United Nations
Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the Confederation of Italian Industries
(CONFINDUSTRIA), have signed a Letter of Intent with the aim of involving the Italian
industrial system in the implementation of the cooperation project “SME Cluster Development”,
funded by the Government of Italy.
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Minister Elisabetta Belloni, Director General of the Directorate General for Development
Cooperation, MAE, Vice Minister of the Vietnamese Ministry of Planning and Investment
Nguyen Van Trung, the UNIDO Managing Director Dmitri Piskounov and Paolo Zegna, Vice
President of Confindustria with the mandate for international partnerships, have signed a Letter
of Intent aimed at involving the Italian industrial system in the implementation of the cooperation
project “SME Cluster Development” in Vietnam.
Confindustria will act as implementing partner, and will be playing an active role in the
project’s implementation and without charging its activities to the project’s budget..
This agreement represents the first experience of this kind in development cooperation, and is a
spin-off of recent agreements between the Italian MAE and Confindustria, that have established
new areas of cooperation and institutional coordination.
The general objective of the cooperation project “SME Cluster Development in Vietnam” is to
contribute to the economic and social development of Vietnam, through supporting actions to
enhance the competitiveness of Small- and Medium-size enterprises at level of clusters.
Through the creation of a joint vision on teh development clusters and industrial districts, the
project will promote cooperation and the implementation of joint initiatives among enterprises in
clusters to achieve higher collective efficiencies. Technical assistance will be delivered to
upgrade cluster capacities in the fields of process and product innovation, production
technologies, quality control, market access, managerial and technical skills, finance,
environment protection and social responsibility. The establishment of enterprises service centers
in cooperation with local industrial association and institutions will be pursued ensuring
sustainability after project end.
The model described above largely draws on the experience of Italian industrial districts. A
specific and qualifying goal of this project is indeed the promotion of partnerships between
Italy and Vietnam at the level of enterprise and industrial districts. Development and
upgrading actions in Vietnam will leverage the rich endowment of know-how, competence and

2. technology of Italian districts. At the same time, Italian industries will benefit from supporting
their process of internationalization and finding adequate partners in Vietnam; partners whose
necessary upgrade will be promoted also for meeting international standards of sustainability and
social responsibility.
The project is implemented in three interconnected phases:
1. Phase I: Mapping of SME Clusters in Vietnam has been carried out leading to the selection of
three target cluster at high development potential: “Textile and garment”, “Footwear and
leather processing”, “Wood processing and furniture”. In addition, the project will also
support mechanical engineering as a cross-sectoral link.
2. Technical support will be provided to selected clusters and their industry associations as
outlined above. Cooperation agreements will be started with Italian clusters, promoting
technology transfers and technical assistance. Selected enterprises in each cluster will be
assisted in preparing business partnership proposals to Italian enterprises.
3. Long-term cooperation linkages and agreements will be promoted among Vietnamese and
Italian associations at the district and enterprise levels. These business agreements will be
facilitated through events and B2B matching mechanisms.
The project is fully funded by the Government of Italy, (€3 million, MAE/DGCS) and it is
implemented by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), recognized
internationally as the leading agency for SMEs upgrading and Cluster development in developing
and emerging economies. The national counterpart is the Ministry of Planning and Investment
(MPI). The project with a duration of 36 months entered its operational phase in June 2010.
Over 100 enterprises, territorial and sectoral associations and Export Consortia within the
Confederation of Italian Industries (Confindustria) have expressed keen interest to participate in
the project. Italian experts in woodworking and textile technology and markets have just been
fielded by UNIDO to Vietnam to carry out technical assessment and training of local enterprises.