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| Visitors to Hanoi (Source: vov.vn) |
According to VOV, Vietnam is expected to attract more foreign travellers if the National Assembly approves the bill drafting agency's proposal to extend the e-visa validity for the holders to a maximum of 90 days from the current 30 days.
The ministry also proposed that e-visa holders enter and exit Vietnam multiple times during their visa validity.
Under the current law on entry, exit, transit and residence of foreigners in Vietnam, a foreigner can apply for an e-visa which is valid for a single entry and up to 30 days.
Lawmakers of the ongoing session of the National Assembly are scheduled to give opinions on the amendments on May 27 afternoon.
The National Defense and Security Committee of the National Assembly that oversees the bill agreed with the proposal, saying that the regulation of the e-visa validity for many times would create favourable conditions for foreigners when they enter and exit the country, contributing to reducing administrative procedures, and saving time and costs.
The extension of the e-visa validity is said to meet the needs of international travelers and foreigners entering Vietnam to explore business and investment opportunities.
Some members of the committee asked the bill drafting agency to clarify why the EV validity should not exceed three months, while some others even proposed to extend the validity to no more than six months.
The bill watchdog also agreed with the proposal to expand the list of countries with e-visa entry, saying the current regulation that allows citizens of 80 countries and territories applying for an e-visa to enter Vietnam has yet to meet the needs of foreign tourists and investors in Vietnam.
The committee also agreed with the proposal to extend the validity of the temporary residence certificate granted to people subject to unilateral visa exemption at border gates from the current 15 days to a maximum of 45 days.
As of 2023, citizens of 25 countries can travel to Vietnam without having to apply for a visa, with visitors allowed to stay between 14 and 30 days on average. Meanwhile, some other countries in Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand allow citizens from 158, 166, 169, 157 and 70 countries and territories, respectively, to enjoy their visa exemption policy when entering their territories.
The bill watchdog proposed that the bill drafting agency expand the list of countries and territories and relax unilateral visa exemption conditions, in an effort to facilities tourism and investment activities in Vietnam.
The lawmakers are scheduled to put amendments to a vote on June 24.
Vietjet to launch Ho Chi Minh City – Jakarta air route in August
Low-cost carrier Vietjet Air will launch a new air route connecting Ho Chi Minh City and Jakarta - the capital and largest city of Indonesia on August 5 with ticket prices from only 0 VND (excluding taxes, fees and holiday of each market), reported VNA.
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| A Vietjet aircraft (Source: Vietjetair.com) |
The launch of the new route aims to connect two important economic, financial and cultural centers while promoting tourism and economic integration in the region.
The air route will be operated one daily return flight. The flights from Ho Chi Minh City to Jakarta take off at 9:35 am and land at 12:30 pm (local time). The flights from Jakarta to Ho Chi Minh City take off at 1:30 pm (local time) and land at 4:40 pm.
With more than 3 hours of flight, passengers can reach to the bustling capital of Indonesia which being famous for its colorful culture, religion, cuisine, tourism.
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| Passengers board Vietjet air (Source: vnexpress.net) |
In addition to the new route, traveling journeys to Indonesia always welcome travellers to the paradise of Bali with daily direct flights, convenient departures from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi.
To celebrate the occasion, Vietjet offers passengers with tickets from only 0 VND, applying for all international flight network to Indonesia, and all routes to Australia, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Hong Kong (China) and Southeast Asia.
The promotional tickets are available for sales on every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at www.vietjetair.com or the Vietjet Air app.
Especially, passengers who successfully buy a ticket in the period from now to August 15, 2023 will receive an additional 100,000 VND e-Voucher to use in the next booking, applying for all ticket classes on the flight network./.
Hung Yen opens litchi fair 2023
The Red River Delta province of Hung Yen on May 27 opened a two-day fair at the Ecopark urban area to promote its fresh litchi and products of local cooperatives and farms.
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| People visit litchi fair at Ecopark urban area, the Red River Delta province of Hung Yen. (Photo:VNA) |
VNA quoted the saying of Nguyen Hung Nam, Vice Chairman of Hung Yen provincial People's Committee at the event that the litchi fair is part of activities to promote the province’s agricultural products in 2023.
The province is selecting areas to expand litchi growing areas in parallel with the formation of cooperatives, cooperative groups, and production farms that apply VietGAP and GlobalGAP processes toward organic farming.
Vu Xuan Thuy, Vice Chairman of Phu Cu district People's Committee, said that from the beginning of the litchi season, the district has organised trade promotion programmes, inviting businesses, supermarkets, and distributors to the district.
It also supported litchi farmers in seeding and capital as well as improved roads for better transportation.
Currently, Phu Cu early-ripening hybrid litchi and Hung Yen egg-shaped litchi have been granted trademark certificate by the National Office of Intellectual Property and are grown widely in Phu Cu and An Thi districts with a total cultivated area of more than 1,000 ha and output of over 12,700 tonnes. Many local cooperative groups and litchi growers were granted production area codes for export to the US and Japanese markets.
Phu Cu early-ripening hybrid litchi has outstanding characteristics such as a big size, light-colored rind, sweet and aromatic taste, and earlier harvest time. Meanwhile, Hung Yen egg-shaped litchi is a local specialty with the size of a chicken egg, bright red thin rind and sweet and fragrant meat. One kilo of egg-shaped litchi consists of 20-22 fruits.
According to local gardeners, this season's litchi crop has good quality. A kilo of litchi is sold at 40,000-50,000 VND (1.7-2.1 USD) while the price of egg-shaped litchi is as high as 160,000-180,000 VND per kg.
Friendship associations to attend southern fruit festival for first time
The largest annual fruit festival will return to Suoi Tien Theme Park in Ho Chi Minh City from June 1 to August 31, drawing the debut participation of several friendship associations.
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| Friendship associations to attend southern fruit festival for first time (Source: vov.vn) |
The Friendship Associations of Vietnam-ASEAN, Vietnam-India, Vietnam-Indonesia, and Vietnam-Cambodia will bring art performances to the event, helping to strengthen friendship and solidarity between Vietnam and other regional countries.
The festival will offer fun activities, including an exhibition of exotic fruits from countries around the world that are planted in Suoi Tien Farm, a fruit market, and a food fair.
Furthermore, more than 20 dishes made from fruits and typical dishes across the country are set to be cooked by chefs at the festival.
A carving art competition with fruit and vegetables is expected to attract many craftsmen from Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai and Binh Duong provinces, along with some neighbouring localities. The contest will present colourful pieces of works, thereby introducing the traditional culture to the world and deeply portraying national pride.
Visitors will be able to contemplate a collection featuring many kinds of fruits nationwide./.