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Editor’s note: Luong Hoai Nam, former deputy head of the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, says the current visa policy is discouraging international tourists from visiting the country in his op-ed exclusively written for Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper. Nam’s piece of writing is particularly worth noticing at a time when Vietnam reported its tenth straight drop in tourism arrival number in March, according to the VNAT statistics. The Vietnamese tourism visa policy, especially the complicated procedures to get a visa, is one of the import reasons why the number of international tourists visiting Vietnam did not increase but continuously shrank over the past time. Local tourism authorities attributed the falling number arrivals in ten months in a row to the plunges of the Russian and Chinese markets, while the growths of other markets could not offset for such losses. Such explanation, to me, is only partially correct. Reality is that the tourism visa policy is a very significant hurdle for the growth of international tourism in Vietnam. Complex visa rules; short exemption list With nearly eight million international visitors a year, including those who come by road via the borders with China, Laos, and Cambodia and those who arrive for business and investment purposes, the number of tourist arrival to Vietnam is only equal to that of a single destination in Thailand, Pattaya. And it is lower than that of Phukhet. Thailand rakes in US$60-65 billion from about 25 million international tourists it welcomes on an annual basis. The tourist arrivals of Hong Kong and Singapore are triple the figure of Vietnam. In my opinion, one of the main reasons vacationers do not choose Vietnam is the country’s visa policy, especially its complicated procedures. Holidaymakers do not mind paying a few dozens of U.S. dollars to get a visa, but they are indeed discouraged by complicated formality, and will thus travel to where they can enjoy a visa …

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A member of staff checks the outdoor temperature at the Hydro-meteorological Station in the northern province of Tuyên Quang. — VNA/VNS Photo Thế Duyệt HÀ NỘI — Improving the capacity of hydro-meteorological monitoring and forecasting as well as strengthening international co-operation are identified as two major tasks of the national hydro-meteorological sector in the future. Professor Trần Hồng Thái, director general of the Việt Nam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration said the sector needed to develop, focusing on investing in science, technology and human resources. It was also advised to fully apply the nation’s scientific and technological achievements and look at other technological achievements from around the world, he said. The sector should continue perfecting the network of national hydro-meteorological monitoring stations, especially automatic monitoring stations to get more accurate data serving natural disaster prevention and control, socio-economic development and national security and defence, he added. Collecting data from satellites to forecast weather developments on a large scale such as typhoon, tropical low-pressure system and monsoon should be strengthened, he said. The equipment for weather radar networks was imperative so the sector could issue more accurate warnings on small-scale weather phenomenon including tornados, hail and flash floods, he said. The sector’s computer systems should be upgraded to meet the requirements of processing, calculating, storing and exploiting data to serve hydro-meteorological forecasting in the future, he said. Talking about international co-operation, Thái also said Việt Nam would continue taking advantage of foreign aid to develop new methods and technology as well and training human resource staff. Hoàng Đức Cường, deputy head of the administration said Việt Nam already …

[Read more...] about VN’s hydro-meteorological sector continues improving capacity, international co-operation in the future

A member of staff checks the outdoor temperature at the Hydro-meteorological Station in the northern province of Tuyen Quang. (Photo: VNA) Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Improving the capacity of hydro-meteorological monitoring and forecasting as well as strengthening international cooperation are identified as two major tasks of the national hydro-meteorological sector in the future. Professor Tran Hong Thai, Director General of the Vietnam Meteorological and Hydrological Administration said the sector needed to develop, focusing on investing in science, technology and human resources. It was also advised to fully apply the nation’s scientific and technological achievements and look at other technological achievements from around the world, he said. The sector should continue perfecting the network of national hydro-meteorological monitoring stations, especially automatic monitoring stations to get more accurate data serving natural disaster prevention and control, socio-economic development and national security and defence, he added. Collecting data from satellites to forecast weather developments on a large scale such as typhoon, tropical low-pressure system and monsoon should be strengthened, he said. The equipment for weather radar networks was imperative so the sector could issue more accurate warnings on small-scale weather phenomenon including tornados, hail and flash floods, he said. The sector’s computer systems should be upgraded to meet the requirements of processing, calculating, storing and exploiting data to serve hydro-meteorological forecasting in the future, he said. Talking about international cooperation, Thai also said Vietnam would continue taking advantage of foreign aid to develop new methods and technology as well and training human resource staff. Hoang Duc Cuong, deputy head of the administration said Vietnam already committed to supporting the region in two programmes of the World Meteorological Organisation - Dangerous …

[Read more...] about Hydro-meteorological sector continues to improve