340 Essential Workers from 143 Companies Granted Vietnam 'Special Entry'... 82% from Small and Medium Enterprises (Update)

Sequential Departure on the 29th via Korean Air Charter Flight... Largest Single Departure Scale for Businesspeople
14-Day Quarantine Followed by Local Activities
Government Plans Package Measures Covering Charter Flight Transport, Quarantine, and Disinfection... Close Negotiations with Vietnamese Government

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young]

Amid Vietnam's strengthened restrictions on foreign entry due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), which has made entry virtually impossible, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that a business delegation of 340 essential personnel from 143 Korean companies will enter Vietnam on the 29th via a chartered flight.

Vietnam temporarily suspended the 15-day visa-free visit permission for Korean nationals starting February 29 and halted all foreign entries from March 22. From the 1st of this month, all international flights were banned from landing in Vietnam.

This departure of 340 businesspeople is the largest single business departure since the COVID-19 outbreak. Two Korean Air chartered flights are scheduled to depart sequentially, and the delegation consists of essential personnel from large, medium, and small enterprises involved in plant construction, factory expansion, and operations. Specifically, there is one public enterprise, six financial companies, nine large corporations, and 127 small and medium-sized enterprises. The proportion of small and medium-sized enterprises reaches 82%.

The businesspeople entering Vietnam will undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival and are expected to start work from May 13.

Previously, considering the difficulty of negotiating individually with Vietnam for small-scale business trips, the government devised a package plan to recruit business travelers from multiple companies for chartered flight transportation, quarantine, and isolation. Since then, the Korean Embassy in Vietnam has been continuously and closely negotiating with the central and local Vietnamese governments.

On the 3rd, the Korean and Vietnamese heads of state held a phone call and reached a consensus on ensuring free economic activities through smooth movement of essential personnel such as businesspeople, which was a decisive factor in enabling this entry. Government ministries including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and related organizations such as the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and KOTRA cooperated closely as Team Korea, leading all processes of the business trip including entry negotiations, visa issuance, chartered flight and quarantine hotel arrangements.

An official from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated, "Government officials will accompany the business delegation to support the businesspeople, and even during the quarantine period after arrival in Vietnam, we plan to provide non-face-to-face programs on Vietnamese language, culture, and economy to manage and support them." He added, "This special entry is expected to greatly assist Korean companies operating in Vietnam and the future Korea-Vietnam economic cooperation relationship."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.