A campus of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), one of the eight public universities in Hong Kong. VNS Photo Bồ Xuân Hiệp

 HONG KONG — The relaxed visa policy by Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (China) for Vietnamese citizens will open a new period of bilateral partnership, said Vietnamese Consul General in Hong Kong Phạm Bình Đàm.

The diplomat held that the policy would allow Vietnamese businesses and people to start up and seek employment opportunities in Hong Kong, while exploring the capital market to exploit Hong Kong's financial services for the development of the Vietnamese economy and Vietnamese businesses.

The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR, John Lee Ka-chiu, in a policy address to the region's legislative council on Wednesday, announced a relaxation of its visa policy in a bid to attract skilled professionals from Việt Nam, Laos and Nepal.

Lee said Hong Kong would now ease the visa policy for skilled workers from Việt Nam, Laos and Nepal who wish to pursue employment, training or study in one of Hong Kong’s eight public universities.

Previously, the three Asian nations were not included in Hong Kong’s Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, which aimed to attract highly skilled individuals to work in Hong Kong without requiring a job offer in advance.

In addition, Hong Kong will also ease the visa policy for multiple-entry visas for business and travel purposes for Vietnamese nationals, according to Lee.

Before this change, Vietnamese citizens were only eligible for single-entry visas, which permitted a maximum stay of seven days for tourism or business activities such as attending conferences or seminars. 

Under the new visa policy, Vietnamese nationals can now apply for multiple-entry visas valid for two years or more, allowing unrestricted entries into Hong Kong, with each stay lasting a maximum of 14 days.

To qualify for these visas, applicants must meet certain criteria, including having visited two or more countries at least three times in the past three years, or having pursued educational or professional opportunities in Hong Kong over the previous two years.

According to the Consul General, in terms of economy and trade, Việt Nam and Hong Kong are the 10th biggest partners of each other. Hong Kong was one of the first to invest in Việt Nam after the country opened its doors, he noted, holding that the two economies could supplement each other.

Therefore, Hong Kong’s opening of its labour market to Việt Nam amid its shortage of human resources in various areas would create many employment opportunities for Vietnamese labourers and businesses, he said.

Meanwhile, Associate Prof. Nguyễn Tuấn Anh from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) said that one of the priorities of Vietnamese students when choosing Hong Kong as their place for studying was to seek jobs after graduation. Thus, the limited visa policy that Hong Kong applied previously caused difficulties for them.

Anh held that Hong Kong’s issuance of visas to Vietnamese people would help promote cooperation and academic and research exchange between the two sides, contributing to promoting science-technology partnerships between Việt Nam and Hong Kong.

In early 2024, the HKUST would invite a number of graduates from the University of Natural Sciences – Việt Nam National University Hà Nội to conduct joint short-term research in the HKUST, he said.

Dr. Nguyễn Phương Anh, a researcher at Zeta Motion Hong Kong company, said that Hong Kong was facing a serious shortage of computer programmers, expressing his hope that the relaxed policy would enable Vietnamese workers to access an open international working environment.

Experts are optimistic that along with the sound relations between Việt Nam and Hong Kong in recent years, the new visa policy for Vietnamese workers and travellers will open up abundant employment and business chances for Vietnamese workers and enterprises, contributing to further promoting the bilateral partnership.

Asked for reaction from Việt Nam regarding the new development, spokeswoman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Việt Nam Phạm Thu Hằng said "We highly appreciate and acknowledge the decision to ease the visa policies of Hong Kong for Vietnamese citizens," stressing that Việt Nam and Hong Kong are important economic partners to each other. — VNS