More flights to be launched to bring overseas Vietnamese home. (Photo: VNA)The organisation of the flights will be based on the latestCOVID-19 situation and quarantine capacity at home, she stressed.
The flights are part of efforts to boostsocio-economic recovery and development, enhance international integration inthe new context, facilitate trade between Vietnam and other countries andterritories, and meet the demand for returning home of overseas Vietnamese.
Since the pandemic broke out, the foreign ministry hasfollowed the Government’s guidelines on “putting people at the centre” and “leaving noone behind”, and has coordinated with competent agencies at home and abroad,Vietnamese representative offices in foreign countries and foreign air carriersto bring Vietnamese expats home.
Over the past two years, Vietnam has conducted around 800repatriation flights for nearly 200,000 Vietnamese from more than 60 countries andterritories, who were in extremely difficult circumstances and wished to returnhome.
Hang said from January 1, 2022, Vietnam has resumed regular internationalcommercial flights to eight countries and territories.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Vietnam (CAAV) has negotiatedwith partners to reopen more routes to Australia and Europe, she said,suggesting Vietnamese there can make plans to fly home.
After consulting the Ministry of Foreign Affairs andthe Ministry of Public Security, the Government on January 18 allowedVietnamese expats and their relatives to enter the country only with valid visa exemption certificates, including those issued before the emergenceof the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I think that it is a sound policy to create the bestpossible conditions for overseas Vietnamese to return home,” she said.
Hang advised returnees to follow guidelines of the Ministryof Health, including requirements on vaccination, testing, health declarationand monitoring.
According to the spokesperson, the Ministry of Healthon December 23 issued Vietnam’s vaccine passport template which was then introducedto Vietnamese representative agencies abroad.
Vietnam’s vaccine passport has been so far recognised by 10 partners, namely Japan, theUS, the UK, Australia, India, Belarus, Cambodia, the Philippines, Palestine andMaldives.
Meanwhile, Vietnam has recognised vaccine passports ortemporary vaccination certificates of 79 countries and territories.
The recognition will help to shorten the quarantineperiod for arrivals from those 79 countries and territories to only three days, aswell as the quarantine time for fully vaccinated or recovered people, Hangsaid./.
VNA
