Vietnam and Saudi Arabia have signed an action program on tourism cooperation, while looking forward to the establishment of direct flights and mutual visa exemption for travelers from both countries.

The action program was signed in Riyadh on Thursday between Vietnamese Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung and Saudi Arabia’s Princess Haifa bint Mohammed Al-Saud, Deputy Minister of Tourism.

The event took place within the framework of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s trip to Saudi Arabia to attend the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) – Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Summit and visit the Southwestern Asian nation on October 17-20.

The program came as a result of a joint initiative by Minister Hung and Saudi Arabia’s Minister of Tourism Ahmed A. Al-Khateeb during their talks in August in Hanoi, aiming to boost the bilateral tourism cooperation in a more practical and efficient way, matching the potential of the two nations. 

At the meeting following the signing ceremony, Hung and Al-Saud pledged to make the program a success by strengthening exchange and sharing of information, experience and statistics related to Halal markets and tourism demand.

Halal, which means lawful and permitted in Islam, refers to food products and services that adhere to Muslim law.

The two sides will also develop and train tourism human resources, organize joint tourism promotion events, and look for tourism investment opportunities, among other cooperation.

Minister Hung told his host that Vietnam has a large number of interesting travel destinations and is home to various cultural and historical relics, including those honored by UNESCO as world heritage sites.

To promote tourism, the Vietnamese government approved a project for 'Strengthening international cooperation to build and develop Vietnam’s Halal industry until 2030.'

The project set out major orientations to open up the potential Halal markets, in which tourism is seen as one of the priority areas, and Saudi Arabia is considered one of the major partners and markets.

To implement the newly signed action program, Minister Hung said he will work with Vietnam's key travel and tourism firms to build tourism products that satisfy the needs of travelers from Saudi Arabia.

The minister requested the host to support Vietnam in learning about tourist tastes and Halal markets, as well as in building standards and rules on Halal tourism through technology transfer.

He also suggested the host introduce leading Saudi Arabian enterprises to survey, invest, and operate in Vietnam in the fields of accommodation facilities, tourism investment, and others.

The program was launched as Saudi Arabia is implementing its Vision 2030 plan, a comprehensive roadmap to diversify the country’s economy, society, and culture while reducing its dependence on oil. 

Pursuant to the plan, Saudi Arabia aims to attract more than 100 million tourists by 2030, about 10 million higher than last year, making the industry the country's second-largest source of revenue – second only to oil.

Princess Al-Saud affirmed her determination to promote tourism cooperation with Vietnam, adding that Saudi Arabia is considering issuing e-visas to tourists from Vietnam and will encourage domestic travel firms to develop tourism packages that meet Vietnamese travelers’ demands. 

According to Saudi Arabian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdulaziz Al-Duaile, a draft visa exemption agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders of both countries had been sent to Vietnamese authorities for consideration before signing. 

Upon its effect, the agreement will create a premise for the two countries to consider the bilateral visa exemption for tourists from both sides, the diplomat said.

The princess also expressed her wish to promote tourism exchanges with Vietnam through air in the near future, and expected that Saudi Arabia will soon establish direct flights connecting the two nations.

Dang Ngoc Hoa, chairman of the Vietnam Airlines Corporation, said that Vietnam Airlines and Saudi Airlines will first conduct codeshare flights and then set up direct air routes.

With the markets of some 100 million people in Vietnam and more than 34 million people in Saudi Arabia, the two countries enjoy great potential for tourism and air transport cooperation, Nguyen Thanh Hung, deputy chairman of Vietnam’s budget carrier Vietjet, commented. 

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