This afternoon March 18, The National Assembly Standing Committee held a question-and-answer session with Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son about citizen protection work; the management, arrangement, upgrading, organizational capacity improvement of the diplomatic system; solutions to enhance anti-corruption, negativity in diplomatic activities…
National Assembly delegate Ta Thi Yen questions Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son
As the first National Assembly delegate to question Minister Bui Thanh Son, Ms. Ta Thi Yen (Dien Bien delegation) pointed out that in recent years, Vietnam has become a favorite tourist destination and has signed visa exemption agreements for some countries to attract tourists. However, currently, only a few countries exempt visas for Vietnamese citizens and the process of applying for a visa for Vietnamese citizens is still difficult.
“Please let the Minister know the role of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in this issue and the solutions to improve the situation and create conditions for Vietnamese citizens when traveling abroad and vice versa” – delegate Ta Thi Yen questioned the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
In response to the delegate’s question, Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son said that countries around the world are very interested in and see Vietnam as a safe destination with many famous sites and landscapes.
In the context of openness and deep integration, not only do countries come to Vietnam, but Vietnamese citizens also have a need to travel, seek opportunities for production and business development. Therefore, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs cooperates with relevant agencies to simplify immigration procedures.
“Most recently, the National Assembly has passed amendments to some articles of the Immigration Law”- Minister Bui Thanh Son stated and noted that there are currently 13 countries that unilaterally exempt visas for Vietnam – these are key tourist areas with many tourists coming to Vietnam.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son answers questions on the afternoon of March 18
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs also negotiated with 15 countries to implement reciprocal visa exemption to facilitate immigration activities. In addition, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is negotiating reciprocal visa exemption for many countries in terms of official visa.
From Dak Nong province, delegate Tran Thi Thu Hang questioned the Minister of Foreign Affairs about the implementation of cultural diplomacy in promoting the culture and image of the country, the people of Vietnam in order to promote tourism and socio-economic development, build the brand of Vietnam in general and specific localities.
In response to this issue, Minister Bui Thanh Son said that the cultural diplomacy strategy for the period 2021 – 2030 is the next development phase of the cultural diplomacy strategy for the period 2011 – 2020; at the same time, it has some new contents.
According to the Minister, cultural diplomacy activities not only help promote the image of the country, the people of Vietnam to the world and vice versa through cultural exchanges but also receive and absorb the cultural essence of the world.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has proactively cooperated with international organizations, especially the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
At the national level, according to the Minister, cultural diplomacy activities help create a very important and friendly impression with friends; our high-level diplomatic activities in the past have also been highlighted by cultural diplomacy activities.
Minister Bui Thanh Son highly appreciated that in the past time, localities across the country have paid attention to building the image, brand, as well as promoting the image of their localities in festivals, which have been highly appreciated by international friends.
