Hong Kong (VNA) – The relaxed visa policy by Hong Kong SpecialAdministrative Region (China) for Vietnamese citizenswill open a new period of bilateral partnership, stated Vietnamese ConsulGeneral in Hong Kong Pham Binh Dam.

The diplomat held that the policy will allow Vietnamesebusinesses and people to start up and seek employment opportunities in HongKong, while exploring the capital market to exploit Hong Kong's financialservices for the development of the Vietnamese economy in general and Vietnamese businesses in particular.

On October 25, Hong Kong officially granted workingvisa to Vietnamese workers and loosened its multiple-entry visa policy forVietnamese visitors. Earlier in 2021, Hong Kong started granting visa forVietnamese students.

According to the Consul General, in terms of economy and trade, Vietnam andHong Kong is the 10th biggest partner of each other. Hong Kong wasone of the first to invest in Vietnam after the country opened its door, henoted, holding that the two economies can supplement each other.

Therefore, Hong Kong’s opening of its labour market to Vietnam amid its shortageof human resources in various areas will create many employment opportunities forVietnamese labourers and businesses, he said.

Meanwhile, Associate Prof. Nguyen Tuan Anh from the Hong Kong University ofScience and Technology (HKUST) said that one of the priorities of Vietnamesestudents when choosing Hong Kong as their place for studying is to seek jobsafter graduation. Thus, the limited visa policy that Hong Kong applied previouslycaused difficulties for them.

Anh held that Hong Kong’s issuance of visas to Vietnamese people will helppromote cooperation and academic and research exchange between the two sides,contributing to promoting science-technology partnership between Vietnam andHong Kong.

In early 2024, the HKUST will invite a number of graduates from the University of Natural Sciences – Vietnam National UniversityHanoi to conduct joint short-term researches in the KHUST, he said.

Dr. Nguyen Phuong Anh, a researcher at Zeta Motion Hong Kongcompany, said that Hong Kong is facing a serious shortage of computer programmers, expressing his hope that the relaxed policy will enable Vietnamese workers toaccess an open international working environment.

Experts are optimistic that along with the sound relations between Vietnam andHong Kong in recent years, the new visa policy for Vietnamese workers and travelerswill open up abundant employment and business chances for Vietnamese workersand enterprises, contributing to further promoting the bilateral partnership./.