European

Many Vietnamese travel agencies have expressed their concerns over slumping revenue after the Czech Republic, Spain, and Germany refused to issue visas to holders of new Vietnamese passports. Nguyen Nguyet Van Khanh, deputy director of Vietravel's marketing department, stated that about 10-20 percent of the customers who book the firm’s tours to Europe are using the new passport form. Travelers often choose countries in the Schengen area, including France, Germany, Luxembourg, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Italy, Khanh elaborated. If customers’ trip includes the Czech Republic, Spain, and Germany and their visas get rejected due to the new passport form, the travel agency needs to adjust the original itinerary, which can be troublesome. Tourists can either choose to exclude these nations from their journeys or travel to other European countries instead, such as Switzerland and France. Regarding tours that must include Germany, Vietravel will only offer them to customers who … [Read more...] about Travel agencies on tenterhooks as 3 European nations stop accepting Vietnam’s new passport

He also suggested the government consider simplifying immigration procedures to attract foreign tourists as Vietnam reopened after over two years of border closure, he said in a report submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Tuesday. Hung also proposed extending tax cuts to tourism businesses until the end of 2023 to help them recover after the pandemic crisis. Though Vietnam reopened tourism and lifted most Covid restrictions, Hung said travel firms and those working in the tourism industry are grappling with difficulties and have not really benefited directly from current policies. The country welcomed 954,000 foreign arrivals in the first seven months this year, up nine times year-on-year. This year, Vietnam targets five million foreign tourists, around 30 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The government has allowed quarantine-free entry and resumed its pre-pandemic visa exemption policy for 24 tourism markets including Western European countries from … [Read more...] about Tourism minister proposes visa exemption for US, European travelers

He also suggested the government consider simplifying immigration procedures to attract foreign tourists as Vietnam reopened after over two years of border closure, he said in a report submitted to the National Assembly Standing Committee on Tuesday. Hung also proposed extending tax cuts to tourism businesses until the end of 2023 to help them recover after the pandemic crisis. Though Vietnam reopened tourism and lifted most Covid restrictions, Hung said travel firms and those working in the tourism industry are grappling with difficulties and have not really benefited directly from current policies. The country welcomed 954,000 foreign arrivals in the first seven months this year, up nine times year-on-year. This year, Vietnam targets five million foreign tourists, around 30 percent of pre-pandemic levels. The government has allowed quarantine-free entry and resumed its pre-pandemic visa exemption policy for 24 tourism markets including Western European countries from … [Read more...] about Vietnam minister proposes visa exemption for US, European travelers

Vietnamese authorities have realized that the birthplace-omitted passports have troubled other countries’ immigration work. Vietnam’s Ministries of Public Security (MPS) and Foreign Affairs (MoFA) have been working on redesigned passports with some European countries due to the omission of birthplace in the paper. Vietnam's redesigned passport. Photo: Hoang Lam/Zing MoFA Spokeswoman Le Thi Thu Hang informed at the press conference on August 11 following questions on the visa application rejected by Germany, Spain, and the Czech Republic over the place of birth information. “The Consular Department of MoFA and the Immigration Department of MPS on August 8 worked with the embassies of Germany, Spain, and the Czech Republic in Hanoi to discuss the temporary suspension of visa issuance by these countries to holders of the redesigned passport as the document does not explicitly display information about the place of birth,” Hang said in a statement. At the … [Read more...] about Vietnam works with some European countries for new passports

A wood product factory in Vietnam (Photo: VNA) London (VNA) – A webinar was held on August 4 to update Vietnamese exporters on the UK Conformity Assessed (UKCA) mark, which is mandatory for most of industrial products circulated and used in the UK from next year. The UKCA was created to replace the CE (Conformité Européene - European Conformity) mark of the European Union after the UK left the bloc in 2020. Though the new mark already took effect on January 1, 2021, the UK still accepts the CE mark during the transition process so that businesses can have time to adapt to new requirements. However, the UKCA will be compulsory for most of industrial products exported to the country from January 1, 2023. Addressing the seminar, Vietnam’s Trade Counsellor in the UK Nguyen Canh Cuong said the timely adaptation to the UKCA marking requirements is highly necessary for Vietnamese firms to not miss business chances in the major import market of industrial products. … [Read more...] about Vietnamese exporters updated about UKCA mark

Kuala Lumpur (VNA) – Malaysia and the EU held the 8th Senior Officials' Meeting at the premises of the EU delegation in Kuala Lumpur on August 1. The meeting covered a broad range of issues of mutual interest. They welcomed the upcoming EU-ASEAN Summit as an opportunity to enhance, besides the regional, the bilateral EU-Malaysia relations as well. The sides agreed to step up cooperation notably in the areas of trade and investment, security, human rights, economy, climate change, environment and forests, energy security and renewable energy and sustainable supply chains. They also welcomed the progress towards the signing of the Malaysia-EU Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), aiming to sign the agreement within the framework of the EU-ASEAN Summit in December in Brussels. The participants also confirmed they remained interested in a possible future resumption of trade negotiations once the conditions are right. On palm oil, they recalled the Second Joint Working … [Read more...] about Malaysia, EU hold 8th Senior Officials’ Meeting

The United Kingdom has announced that they will continue to accept Vietnam's new passports which have recently been rejected by some other countries in the European Union due to missing place-of-birth information. In a notice posted on August 3, the UK Embassy said that visa applicants and travellers (including those in transit) should ensure they are fully aware of, and regularly check, the situation on acceptance of these documents for all their destination(s). The UK is the second country to have accepted the new Vietnamese passports. Earlier, the French embassy also said that the French authorities will continue to accept Vietnam's new-style passports and issue visas to their holders as normal. Meanwhile, Germany, the Czech Republic and Spain have announced that they do not accept those passports due to the omission of the province/city of birth information, causing difficulties for personal identification. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on August 3 asked the … [Read more...] about UK accepts Vietnam’s new passports

Through her frequent interaction with the public, especially youth, women, and the media, Madam Ninh is known as one of the public figures with an influential voice in Vietnam. Madam Ton Nu Thi Ninh, a veteran Vietnamese diplomat, has been appointed as patron in Vietnam of the Australia-Vietnam Leadership Dialogue (AVLD). Madam Ton Nu Thi Ninh, a veteran Vietnamese diplomat, former Vietnamese Ambassador to the European Union, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Photos: AVLD Madam Ninh is joining AVLD alongside Patron in Australia, General Sir Peter Cosgrove. She will commence with AVLD for a 2-year period to help enhance relations, cooperation, and understanding between Vietnam and Australia through AVLD – an independent non-profit initiative that is aimed to nurture relationships, promote engagement and incubate collaboration between Australian and Vietnamese leaders from a broad spectrum of society. AVLD, through people-to-people links, believes the bilateral … [Read more...] about Vietnamese diplomat cements Australia and Vietnam relations

As much of Europe bakes in a third heatwave since June, fears are growing that extreme drought driven by climate change in the continent's breadbasket nations will dent stable crop yields and deepen the cost-of-living crisis. The European Commission on Wednesday urged EU member states to re-use treated urban wastewater as irrigation on the continent's parched farms, after France and parts of England saw their driest July on record. In France, where an intense drought has hammered farmers and prompted widespread limits on freshwater use, there was just 9.7 millimetres (0.38 inches) of rain last month, Meteo-France said. That was 84 percent down on the average levels seen for July between 1991 and 2022, making it the driest month since March 1961, the agency added. The southwestern region of Gironde, already devastated by last month's wildfires, saw a maximum temperature of 39.6 degrees Celsius (103 degrees Fahrenheit) on Wednesday, with Meteo-France predicting a peak on … [Read more...] about Driest July in memory imperils Europe’s crops

A new Vietnamese passport with dark navy cover (Source: VietnamPlus) Hanoi (VNA) - The United Kingdom will continue to recognise all passports issued by Vietnam despite some countries in the European Union rejecting the latest version due to missing place-of-birth information. “Visa applicants and travellers (including those in transit) should ensure they are fully aware of, and regularly checking, the situation on acceptance of these documents for all their destination(s),” the UK Embassy in Hanoi said in a notice posted on August 3. The UK is the second country to have expressly stated their recognition of the new Vietnamese passports with dark navy cover. On July 28, 2022, the French embassy said, for the time being and until further notice, the French authorities will continue to recognise the new passports of Vietnam and issue visas as normal. Meanwhile, Germany, the Czech Republic and Spain announced that they do not recognize the news-style passports due … [Read more...] about UK continues to recognise Vietnam’s new passports