Speaking at the handover ceremony in Hanoi on November 11, Italian Ambassador to Vietnam Antonio Alessandro said the order is the most noble reward that Italy presents to foreigners who make outstanding contributions to promoting friendship and cooperation between Italy and other countries.
The presentation of the order to Quang is to recognise his contributions to the enhancement of ties between Italy and Vietnam and his efforts to support collaboration activities between people of the two countries, especially in cultural and academic activities, said the ambassador.
The Italian diplomat underlined that Quang, who is also the President of the Vietnam-Italy Friendship Association, has paid great attention to strengthening relations between the two countries and deploying various cultural activities to create a bridge between Vietnam and Italy.
For his part, Quang said it was a great honour for him to receive the order, describing it as a milestone in his long, close attachement to the nation and people of Italy.
He noted that in the 1990s, Italy gave positive support to Vietnam in expanding partnership with the European Union (EU) as well as normalising relations with international financial, monetary and trade institutions. Meanwhile, Vietnam acted as a gateway for Italy to strengthen ties with Southeast Asian countries.
Since the two nations set up a strategic partnership in 2013, the bilateral cooperation has been expanded to almost all fields, including social sciences with many joint projects, he said.
Quang said that over the past 35 years since its establishment, the Vietnam-Italy Friendship Association has worked to enhance mutual understanding between people of the nations. He pledged to exert more efforts, together with leaders and member of the association, to further promote the sound traditional friendship between the two countries.
