Tokyo is considering easing immigration procedures for Vietnamese entering Japan in a bid to increase the number of foreign tourists and skilled workers, Japan’s foreign ministry has said.
Speaking at a press conference in Hanoi on Tuesday, Japanese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Kobayashi Maki said the idea was part of Tokyo’s efforts to boost the tourism sector after the Vietnam War.
Maki said the number of Vietnamese tourists visiting Japan in 2019, before the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, was around 500,000. The number of Japanese tourists visiting Vietnam in the same period was 952,000. In the first quarter of this year, the number of Vietnamese tourists to Japan reached 161,000, a 12-fold increase compared to the same period in 2022, she added.
“We need to further increase this number by strengthening cultural cooperation and easing immigration procedures for Vietnamese coming to Japan. While there is not yet a full visa waiver, Japan is considering making the process more convenient,” she said.
Maki did not specify how immigration procedures would be eased. Visas are currently required for all Vietnamese entering Japan, except for those holding diplomatic or other official passports.
Maki said the Japanese government is also re-strategising how it wants to attract high-skilled workers. She added that creating new benefits for Vietnamese workers in Japan is also a top priority. Vietnam has a large number of high-quality workers, while Japan is facing serious problems with an ageing population and labour shortages.
“We have seriously considered attracting workers by expanding specialties and improving benefits,” Maki said, adding that changes could be introduced next year.
Japan is also considering closing its foreign trainee programme to create a new worker recruitment system to “protect and develop” human resources. The new programme would include the addition of certain benefits for new workers.
As of June 2021, some 202,000 Vietnamese technical trainees were studying and working in Japan, according to the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
Maki said Japan would ensure the provision of official development assistance (ODA) to Vietnam even as her country faces the risk of budget deficits.
At the official state reception for Japanese Foreign Minister Kamikawa Yoko in Hanoi on Tuesday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also asked Japan to provide a new generation of ODA for Vietnam’s large-scale strategic infrastructure development projects.
Japan is one of Vietnam’s most important economic partners. It ranks first in ODA, second in labour cooperation, third in investment and tourism, and fourth in trade. Bilateral trade turnover between the two countries reached around $50 billion in 2022, with Vietnam sending a total of $24.2 billion in exports to Japan and importing a total of $23.4 billion.
Japan has signed several bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements with Vietnam, including the ASEAN-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, the Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Kamikawa Yoko is visiting Vietnam from Tuesday to Wednesday on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Vietnam and Japan.
