Foreign Minister Eli Cohen met Monday with Vietnam's Deputy Prime Minister Luong Cong Truong, who is visiting the country at the head of a delegation, that includes the Commerce and Industry Minister, Deputy Foreign Minister, Deputy Science and Technology Minister and other senior officials.
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During the meeting, Vietnam agreed to add Israel to its E-visa project in the coming months, allowing Israeli citizens to obtain a fast and affordable electronic visa to the country without the need to visit an embassy or pay a fee.
Following the decision, Israelis will be able to enter Vietnam with an electronic visa starting from October 2023. Additionally, Vietnam’s deputy prime minister announced during the meeting that direct flights from Vietnam to Israel will also begin in the coming months.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, around 20,000 Israeli tourists visited Vietnam annually, and it’s estimated that the change in visa and direct flight policy will increase tourism ties between the two countries, which are celebrating 30 years of diplomatic relations.
Currently, there are no direct flights to Vietnam, and the route involves at least one connecting flight. Israeli travelers who wanted to visit the increasingly popular destination made the connections mostly through the United Arab Emirates, Turkey or one of the Far East countries.
If the agreement is approved, including a clearance to fly over Saudi Arabia’s airspace, the only airline with the capability to apply for flying the Vietnam-Israel will be El Al. However, Vietnamese airlines are also expected to compete for the route and offer direct flights.
The officials also discussed the expected signing of a Free Trade Area agreement between the two countries. Vietnam is the second Asian country to sign a Free Trade Area agreement with Israel after Korea, making it the first such an agreement made by Vietnam in the Middle East.
Trade between the countries reached around $2 billion in 2020, with approximately 90% being Vietnamese exports.
“Direct flights and an ease in issuing visas will strengthen tourism ties between the countries and promote economic relations between Israel and Southeast Asia," Cohen said.
In addition, Transportation Minister Miri Regev presented a new flight agreement with Azerbaijan to the Knesset, along with significant updates to aviation agreements with Vietnam and Thailand – now pending approval by the government.
"The agreements allow a significant increase in the availability of direct flights to various destinations and the removal of restrictions on the number of airlines operating direct flights to these countries," according to a statement from the Transportation Ministry.
"Updating the agreements between Israel, Vietnam and Thailand, alongside approval for flights to and from Israel to fly over Saudi Arabia’s airspace, which significantly shortens flight times to the East, opens the market to additional companies operating direct flights to these countries,” the ministry statement added.
“The increase in flight availability to these destinations is expected to encourage competition in flight routes and lead to reduced flight prices, while increasing the number of tourists between Israel, Vietnam, and Thailand."