Economic zone seeks work visas for foreign experts

Senior officials of the Binh Son Refining and Petrochemical company located in the economic zone said Thursday they were seeking the government’s approval to grant visas for 350 foreign experts in the coming months.

From mid-May to August, a group of experts from Italy, Germany, France, the U.K., and Japan are scheduled to come to Vietnam to participate in maintenance work of the Dung Quat oil refinery, the country’s first such facility.

However, the entry of all foreigners was halted last month as Vietnam fought hard to contain the spread of the novel coronavirus.

A few days ago, the Pasteur Institute of Nha Trang in the central province of Khanh Hoa agreed with the leaders of Quang Ngai General Hospital to set up a team to take samples for on-site Covid-19 testing of the group of foreign experts who would come to Vietnam after being granted visas by the government.

"The experts coming to Quang Ngai will be placed under medical supervision for 14 days. They will only be allowed to start work after showing negative Covid-19 test results twice," said Huynh Gioi, director of the hospital.

Meanwhile, the Hoa Phat Group has also petitioned the government to consider granting visas for 28 experts from Italy’s Danieli Group to work at the Dung Quat Iron and Steel Production Complex in Quang Ngai.

The complex was set to make hot rolled steel products, but due to the Covid-19 crisis, the experts could not come to Vietnam, and production was delayed.

Starting March 22, Vietnam suspended entry for all foreign nationals, including those of Vietnamese origin and family members with visa waivers.

Only Vietnamese nationals and foreigners carrying diplomatic and official passports such as business managers, experts and high-skilled workers are allowed to enter the country at this time, and all entrants will be quarantined for 14 days.

One of the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic is that 24,410 foreigners have not been able to enter the country to work, according to data from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.