Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested to study the expansion of visa exemption.

Thủ tướng Phạm Minh Chính yêu cầu nghiên cứu mở rộng diện miễn visa- Ảnh 1. — Expanding visa policy has a huge impact on Vietnam's ability to attract international visitors.

The Directive clearly states that in the coming time, the world and domestic situation is forecast to face many difficulties and challenges. Continued complex and unpredictable developments will put great pressure on the direction and implementation of socio -economic development tasks, especially in the first months of 2024.

Therefore, the Prime Minister requested relevant ministries, agencies, localities, collectives and individuals, according to their assigned functions, tasks and powers, to immediately focus on handling work after the Giap Thin Lunar New Year holiday, not to delay or affect production, business and socio-economic activities, especially for work that has been backlogged due to the holiday.

Regarding the tourism industry, the Prime Minister assigned the Ministry of Public Security to study and propose policies to expand visa exemption for citizens of a number of countries in accordance with the new situation and bilateral cooperation.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for urgently summarizing and evaluating the application of the unilateral visa exemption policy for citizens of 13 countries in the past. At the same time, proactively coordinate with the Ministry of Public Security to propose expanding the list of countries whose citizens are unilaterally exempted from visas to Vietnam.

Along with that, the commander of the tourism industry, the Ministry of Culture - Sports - Tourism, needs to strengthen the management of destinations, guide tourism service businesses to implement measures to ensure safety for tourists and people. Request accommodation establishments and food and beverage businesses serving tourists to propagate and mobilize tourists to strictly implement "don't drive after drinking alcohol". At the same time, urgently report to the Prime Minister this February on the consolidation of the State Steering Committee on Tourism; including adding member agencies with tasks closely related to tourism development.

In 2023, Vietnam's tourism exceeded the target of welcoming tourists set at the beginning of the year, especially international visitors reaching 12.6 million, nearly 3.5 times higher than in 2022. In 2024, the tourism industry aims to welcome about 17 - 18 million international visitors, serving 110 million domestic tourists; total revenue from tourists reaching about 840,000 billion VND.

The international tourism market in 2024 is assessed to have more optimistic and brighter signals than in 2023. In particular, Resolution 82 of the Government on the main tasks and solutions to accelerate recovery and accelerate effective and sustainable tourism development will continue to be a boost for Vietnamese tourism to attract more international visitors. At the same time, the image of Vietnamese tourism continues to be highly appreciated internationally.

However, experts and businesses believe that in order to truly make a breakthrough next year, Vietnam needs to continue to loosen its visa policy to create a competitive advantage on par with other countries in the region. Specifically, Vietnam should expand unilateral visa exemptions for citizens of countries with higher levels of development than Vietnam, large tourism spending and long-term stays such as Australia, Canada, the US. The remaining countries in the European Union (Netherlands, Switzerland, Belgium, etc.), along with some countries in the Middle East such as the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, etc. At the same time, pilot short-term visa exemptions (from 6 months to 1 year) for tourists from some potential, large-scale markets such as China, India, Taiwan, etc. to stimulate tourism demand, creating momentum for recovery, growth, and strong development for these large markets.

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