NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn and his spouse departs for IPU-152 in Türkiye. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

ROME — Chairman of the National Assembly (NA) Trần Thanh Mẫn has concluded his official visit to Italy, which helped deepen the Việt Nam–Italy Strategic Partnership.

The Chairman and his spouse, Nguyễn Thị Thanh Nga, along with the high-ranking delegation of Việt Nam, left Rome on the morning of April 15 (local time) to attend the 152nd Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU-152) and bilateral activities in Turkey.

During the visit to Italy, the top legislator held talks and meetings with key Italian leaders, including President Sergio Mattarella, President of the Chamber of Deputies Lorenzo Fontana, and Vice President of the Senate Licia Ronzulli. 

A see-off ceremony held for NA Chairman Trần Thanh Mẫn and his spouse at Ciampino Airport, Rome, Italy. — VNA/VNS Photo Doãn Tấn

Both sides welcomed the strong development of bilateral ties during more than 50 years of diplomatic relations and over a decade of the Strategic Partnership. They agreed that cooperation should expand beyond traditional areas such as trade, investment and education to include Italy’s strengths in fashion, the digital economy, green economy and energy.

Chairman Mẫn called on the two legislatures to enhance political trust through increased mutual visits at all levels, particularly between parliamentary leaders, committees, and friendship groups while stepping up experience-sharing in law-making and supervision to improve the legal framework and ensure the effective implementation of bilateral agreements and high-level commitments.

In the Vatican, the Vietnamese leader met with Pope Leo XIV and the Vatican's Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin. He reaffirmed Việt Nam's policy of consistently creating the best possible conditions for Catholics to lead a good secular and religious life, and expressed his hope for stronger mutual understanding and progress towards elevating ties between Việt Nam and the Holy See.

In Rome, the NA Chairman also met the General Secretary of the Communist Refoundation Party of Italy, the Director-General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), and leaders of the Italy–Việt Nam Parliamentary Friendship Group. He addressed a policy dialogue on bilateral cooperation, and met the staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and representatives of the Vietnamese community in the European nation.

With substantive engagements, the official visit was successful, helping strengthen cooperation between the Vietnamese NA and the Italian Parliament and further deepen the two countries' Strategic Partnership across all fields. — VNA/VNS