Vietnam Today

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has said it is necessary to exempt unilateral visas for citizens from 24 countries and territories entering Vietnam and to apply electronic visas for citizens from 46 countries and territories. It has also proposed conducting the second phase of the program welcoming international tourists until March 30, and to fully open up international tourism from March 31.

The Ministry of Information and Communications will submit a strategy for the development of the digital economy and digital society to 2025 and vision to 2030 to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh this month. The strategy targets that, by 2025, the share of the digital economy will reach 20 per cent of GDP, and the cloud computing market share will hit 75 per cent, among others.

Trade and services were among the most prominent economic activities in Ho Chi Minh City during the opening month of the year. Total State budget revenue from the city stood at nearly VND48 trillion ($2.1 billion), up 19.5 per cent year-on-year, and is estimated to reach VND386.5 trillion ($17 billion) for 2022 as a whole, an increase of 5.9 per cent compared to 2021.

The government has issued a Resolution on the purchase of 22 million doses of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine for children between five and 12 years of age. It also requested that ministries, agencies, and localities ensure that booster shots are given to all adults during the first quarter of this year.

State budget revenue reached nearly VND184 trillion ($8.16 billion) in January while expenditure was almost VND114 trillion ($5.03 billion). It was therefore in surplus by more than VND70 trillion ($3.1 billion).

A range of new policies are taking effect during February, such as those on VAT reductions, origin of goods, increased fees for conditional business appraisal in the seafood sector, strengthened judicial assessment in seafood, and land use levy exemptions for people with meritorious service, among others.