Exports to Italy surge 18% in first 11 months A farmer harvests coffee in Lam Dong Province's Di Linh District. Coffee was one of the major products shipped from Viet Nam to Italy. - VNA/VNS Photo Quang Quyet HA NOI (VNS) - Viet Nam's exports to Italy reached US$2.5 billion in the past 11 months, surging 18.2 per cent against the same period last year, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade. Among the key Vietnamese exports to Italy included handsets and components, which totaled $913.4 million, up 9 per cent year – on-year and accounting for 40 per cent of the total, followed by footwear at $238 million and coffee, reaching $211 million. Also, from January to November Viet Nam's imports from Italy reached $1.19 billion. According to the ministry, Italy is Viet Nam's eighteenth largest export market and fifteenth largest import market. In recent years, Vietnamese exports to Italy saw an annual growth rate of 19 per cent. Italian companies remain interested in Viet Nam, a growing market with untapped co-operative opportunities and high consumption demand, according to Raffaella Carabelli, president of the Association of Italian Textile Machinery Manufacturers, as quoted by Vietnam News Agency. These firms were also seeking new partners in Southeast Asia in such areas as textiles, garments, furniture and footwear, Carabelli said. Meanwhile, Deputy Head of the ministry's Trade Promotion Agency, Ta Hoang Linh, said over the past three years many delegations from Italian businesses had visited Viet Nam to study the country's investment climate and seek out new business opportunities. Recently in November, a delegation of some 100 Italian companies involved in sectors such as engineering, energy, infrastructure and transport, arrived in Viet Nam to explore new investment opportunities. Of note, trade experts forecast that the Viet Nam – EU Free Trade Agreement, which was expected to be signed in the near future, would open a new page for bilateral trade between Viet Nam and Italy. - VNS