When in Rome: Man in Rome looks at a photo exhibition entitled Sac Mau Viet Nam (Viet Nam's Colours), part of a week-long celebration of Vietnamese culture in the Italian capital. — VNS Photo Pham Thanh

ROME (VNS)— Italy pledges to further enhance cultural co-operation with Viet Nam, said Lorenzo Ornaghi, Italian minister of culture, at a meeting with his Vietnamese counterpart Hoang Tuan Anh on Thursday in Rome.

During the meeting, the two sides discussed ways to boost cultural co-operation such as holding joint film festivals and working together on archaeology and heritage preservation projects.

Ornaghi promised to support the Year of Viet Nam, held in Italy on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the diplomatic relationship between the two countries, and the on-going Vietnamese Culture Days in Rome (January 16-23). The Italian Culture Ministry will also sponsor a Viet Nam Week in Venice this June.

The minister hoped that the two countries' co-operation in economics, trade, education and training would also increase.

Vietnamese culture minister Hoang Tuan Anh thanked the Italian side for helping organise the Vietnamese Culture Days event. He invited his Italian colleagues to visit Viet Nam later this year to attend the opening ceremony of the Italian House in Ha Noi, which will bring together artists and ordinary people from both countries to share their culture.

Anh thanked Italian experts for sharing their preservation experience with Vietnamese colleagues in the My Son Sanctuary preservation project. He also hoped to expand co-operation with Italy in sports and tourism.

On the same day, two exhibitions, Vietnamese Printed Media and Vietnamese Culture Space, opened in Rome.

The first exhibition, held at the Dante Alighieri Culture and Language Institute, covers 1,500 books, newspapers and documentaries on heritage and festivals in Viet Nam.

The exhibition on Vietnamese culture introduces various cultural features of the country and people. Images of traditional musical instruments, old Ha Noi and ao dai (traditional long dress) are among those represented.

Addressing the opening ceremony, Antonia P Recchia, General Secretary of Italy's Culture Ministry, noted that the two countries shared many of the same magnificent geological features, as well as rich cultural heritages.

This would make cultural exchanges like this highly successful and ultimately increase tourism, she predicted. — VNS