Vietnam shortens quarantines for Korean business visitors

Passengers to Vietnam line up at Incheon International Airport on March 4, 2020, before the Vietnamese borders were completely closed. [KIM SUNG-RYONG]

Vietnam will shorten the quarantine period from 14 to 7 days for a select group of fully-vaccinated Korean businesspeople.

The first batch of visitors to take advantage of the program has arrived in Vietnam, according to the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI) on Thursday.

They consist of 84 people from 50 companies.

The eased rule could help Korean companies operating in Vietnam, which is a manufacturing hub for major conglomerates including Samsung Electronics and Hyundai Motor.

Since March 22 last year, Vietnam has blocked the entry of all foreigners with exemptions for diplomats, foreign investors and skilled workers. Against this backdrop, the KCCI led the effort to request special rules for businessmen.

The business lobbying group said that it is working to regularize such business trips with shorter quarantines for fully-jabbed workers.

“We will continue to communicate with the Vietnamese government to make the exception regular events, which will lessen the burden attached with quarantine,” said a source at the KCCI.

Companies are hoping to get some projects back on track.

“As the Vietnamese borders are closed, there has been a lack of workforce to operate the factory there,” a representative of Kia Motors was quoted as saying in a statement released by the KCCI.

“This business trip will allow me to keep the development procedure of three new models back on track,” said the Kia representative.

A representative of Namuga, a local camera module manufacturer, said that his visit to Vietnam could solve problems with quality control.
“Without workers dispatched on site, we’ve suffered trouble keeping track of quality control of our product as we were only able to make contact digitally,” the representative said in the statement.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]