Every time I step outside Vietnam, I’m amazed at how quiet the world seems. I often get comments from well-meaning expats about my visa runs. ‘Why don’t you go to the border and come back, it’s much cheaper!’ frequently confronts me. The money involved has never been a big consideration for me. Usually I’m weighing up the time cost of being away from work or the need for a short break from the pins and needles of living in a foreign culture. I’m now in Phnom Penh tapping out this article in the lovely warmth and blue skies on the three-floor bar and Jacuzzi area of a small hotel while consuming one dollar beers – and I can’t hear a single horn blasting away anywhere. Not bad for fifteen dollars a night. Traffic is organized, no one makes problems and no sudden lane changes forcing people to brake hard. Lovely! Why Phnom Penh for the visa run? The embassy is the most efficient of the seven Vietnamese visa offices I’ve visited. Again, it’s not about the money, it’s the lack of fuss, fewer awkward queues and no bad English that I’m looking for. Also, my ears truly needed a break from horns, karaoke, hammers, sirens and loudspeakers. My brain needed a sabbatical from a difficult landlord, a lovely but demented housekeeper (she puts black things with black things and so on…) and Vietnamese bureaucracy. And my heart yearned for some time away from cold weather, unreliable friends and disappointments. Vietnam,… [Read full story]
Visa holders eligible for an extension of their visa validity include people in transit, seamen, temporary guest workers, the media corps, businesspeople, students, people with extraordinary abilities, athletes, artists, entertainers and people with religious occupations. The US’s new visa reciprocity, effective from April 22, 2009, will give visa holders greater flexibility in traveling from the US to third countries and will lessen the time and costs associated with renewing expired visas. It will also facilitate Vietnamese citizens who are employed by US companies and make it significantly easier for Vietnamese sailors working aboard, said the embassy. The US said it…... [read more]
by Marcelo Giovannetti, Dezan Shira & AssociatesDespite recently receiving aid package approval from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) for its tourism industry, Vietnam will have to improve its visa procedures if it wishes to compete against other ASEAN countries in attracting tourists, urges a recent Vietnam Business Forum report.Last week at the annual meeting on tourism development of the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved the allocation of a US$100 million aid package to support the development of tourism infrastructure in the three Mekong River countries of Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.The Greater Mekong Subregion, which receives…... [read more]
The Hanoitimes - Vietnamese car trade companies are running a race to become the official Vietnamese distributors of some famous car brands which still do not have showrooms in Vietnam. The result of the race for the right to distribute Toyota's Lexus brand cars proves to be the most awaiting now in Vietnam. Though the door is opened widely to all ToyotaVietnam's existing agents, it is not easy to catch the eye of the brand's owner.According to a car dealer, in order to become an official distributor for famous brands, agents must have the retail premises of no less than…... [read more]
Thao is running for a seat among the seven assigned for the Asian-Pacific region at the ILC. At the electioneering event on June 23, Ambassador Nguyen Phuong Nga – head of the Vietnamese mission – said Thao is an experienced diplomat and expert on international law. That Vietnam, for the first time, has a candidate for a seat in the ILC demonstrates its commitment to ensuring international law and contributing to the UN’s activities. In his speech, Thao underlined both traditional and non-traditional challenges facing countries in the world such as armed conflicts, migration, crimes against humanity, terrorism and climate change. All…... [read more]
Established in 1992, Kiettisak International School was the first international education unit in the capital city of Laos, Vientiane. It is operated by an overseas Vietnamese woman, Nguyen Thi Nga or Changsanga Valakone (Lao name). She received her doctoral degree in education from Dongdok University (Lao PDR), then studied further in the UK, Australia and the Netherlands. For Laotians, Nguyen Thi Nga was known as a pioneer, brave and determined person through strong support for teaching and using English in education. At the beginning, it was named Daystar International School, then renamed Honour International School in 1997 with a larger…... [read more]
