(VOV) - Italy continues to consider Vietnam a priority in its development cooperation policy, Under Scretary of State Staffan De Mistura told his Vietnamese counterpart Bui Thanh Son in Rome. Son is leading a Vietnamese delegation to Italy for a regular political consultation between the two Foreign Ministries this week. He met with other politicians, including Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi, and General Secretary of the Italian Communist Party (PCI) Oliviero Deliberto. He also co-chaired a round-table on strategy and international politics with Under Secretary of State Marta Dassu. Both sides were satisfied with the fine development of the friendship and multifaceted cooperation between the two countries, especially in politics-diplomacy, economics, development cooperation, culture, and education-training. They agreed to maintain the exchange of high-level delegations, and cooperate closely at international and multilateral forums, including the United Nations, the Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM), and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – European Union (EU) framework. They underlined the need to strengthen cooperation between their localities, create favourable conditions for their business communities to seek and establish partnerships, especially in transport infrastructure, energy, manufacturing, water supply, and the environment. They also agreed to increase the exchange of students and cooperation between their universities and research institutes. Italian leaders confirmed that Italy attaches importance to developing relations with Vietnam and considers providing continued official development assistance (ODA) for the Southeast Asian economy in the 2013-2015 period.