Fico: We Welcome Vietnam's Interest in Reassessing Visa Regulations

Hanoi, July 19 (TASR-correspondent) – Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, who’s been on visit to Vietnam since Saturday (July 16), has indicated that Slovaks could be able to travel to Vietnam without visas, TASR learnt on Tuesday.

“We welcome the interest of the Vietnamese side in assessing visa regulations for Slovak citizens. Vietnam is becoming an ever more attractive tourist destination for Slovaks. Slovakia, as a member of the Schengen area, will do everything in its power to ease visa regulations,” said Fico after meeting his Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

Vietnam is set to reassess its visa policies by the end of this year, thereby attracting more tourists. “We can’t really say when exactly this will happen, but we welcome this step. We can see what’s happening in Egypt, Turkey as well as in Europe. This discourages our tourists from travelling to these traditional resorts and to look for new ones instead,” explained Slovak Foreign and European Affairs Ministry State Secretary Lukas Parizek.

“Around 4,000 tourists visit Vietnam at this time of year,” noted Parizek, adding that both Slovakia and Vietnam could benefit from the liberalisation of visa regulations, not just in terms of tourism, but of business as well.

Fico is still to meet the mayor of Vietnam’s fifth largest city Danang and to visit a technological park there. He’ll then depart for Slovakia.