On the afternoon of August 29, the Ho Chi Minh City Trade Promotion Center (ITPC) organized a dialogue conference between tourism businesses and the Ho Chi Minh City government. At the event, tourism businesses in the area pointed out problems in visa procedures and bank loan interest rates.
Mr. Vo Viet Hoa, Director of International Tourism at Saigontourist Travel Company, wondered: Does the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism have any recommendations for the Government, relevant ministries and sectors such as the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Immigration Department (Ministry of Public Security) to have a visa exemption mechanism for all citizens of the EU, the United States, Australia, New Zealand and India? Thereby, attracting more tourists to Vietnam, helping tourism businesses overcome current difficulties.
According to Mr. Hoa, the number of countries exempted from visas according to regulations is still small, leading to the number of visitors from key markets and potential markets still having to pay high costs and spend a lot of time on procedures. Therefore, international visitors are gradually shifting to other markets that directly compete with Vietnam such as Thailand and Singapore.
Another opinion from the Ho Chi Minh City Tourism Association said that when customers apply for a visa online, the website is very difficult to operate, and the English language has many errors. After submitting the application, tourists do not receive the results within the prescribed time, and when calling the authorities, no one answers the phone.
Responding to the visa procedure issue, Mr. Vo Chien Thang, Deputy Head of the Immigration Department (Ho Chi Minh City Police), said that the problems have been recorded by this agency and reported to superiors. The proposal to expand visa exemption to the entire EU, India and some countries was also recorded in the report.
According to Mr. Thang, in August 2023, the National Assembly and the Government issued many policies to support tourism development, including regulations related to entry and exit. For example, the duration of electronic visas (e-visas) was increased from 30 to 90 days. The e-visa issuance procedure is done online and approved within 3 days.
For 13 countries with unilateral visa exemption, visitors from these countries can increase their stay from 15 days to 45 days, with no limit on the number of entries and exits.
However, recently, the demand for passports and visas has been very high. At times, the Immigration Department of Ho Chi Minh City Police received 10,000-13,000 applications per day.
"More than 90 people in the room working day and night still cannot keep up, it will be left over to the next day, leading to delays. The procedure for implementing e-visas is under the authority of the Immigration Department, Ministry of Public Security," said Mr. Thang.
Regarding access to capital, the leader of Hoa Binh Vietnam Tourism Joint Stock Company affirmed that input interest rates have decreased but output lending interest rates are still high. Some banks lend at interest rates of 14-15%/year; the best borrowing cost is also 9-10%.
"The difference between input and output interest rates is very high. Businesses are facing difficulties, but when banks finalize their accounts at the end of the year, all of them are making huge profits. The State Bank needs to intervene and reduce borrowing costs," a business representative suggested.
Discussing the above opinions of enterprises, a representative of the State Bank of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City branch, shared that enterprises may be accessing loans with medium and long-term interest rates. This interest rate will have a longer adjustment delay compared to short-term interest rates. The bank is working to resolve the issue for the business community. If enterprises encounter difficulties in accessing capital, they can report to the State Bank for support.
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