Vietnamese should pay ‘goodbye fee’ when exiting country: lawmaker

By Vo Hai   June 12, 2019 | 06:42 pm PT
Vietnamese should pay ‘goodbye fee’ when exiting country: lawmaker
Vietnamese should pay a ‘goodbye fee’ of $3-5 every time they get out of the country, said lawmaker Nguyen Quoc Hung. Photo by Shutterstock
Vietnamese should pay a ‘goodbye fee’ of $3-5 every time they leave the country, a former tourism official and now lawmaker suggests.

Nguyen Quoc Hung, former deputy chief of the National Administration of Tourism, said this while taking part in a debate on the Vietnamese Immigration Bill in the National Assembly on Wednesday.

The money could be used by diplomatic agencies to support Vietnamese citizens abroad, adopt new technologies to help people enter and exit the country and promote Vietnam’s tourism image abroad, he said.

Hung noted some countries have this fee, including Japan, which decided last year that citizens must pay Y1,000 ($9.23) every time they leave the country.

"The Japanese government expects to get $400 million a year to invest in tourism development and help improve immigration."

However, Hung's proposal was met with criticisms from other lawmakers and experts.

"While the fee has been applied in some countries, it might work in one country but not in another," said Pham Tat Thang, vice head of the National Assembly's Culture, Education, Youth and Kids Committee.

As such, whether Vietnam should apply such a policy needs to be carefully considered, he added.

Pham Van Hoa, a delegate from the southern province of Dong Thap, said the "goodbye fee" used to adopt new technologies to help people enter and exit the country is "inappropriate" because that has been covered by the national budget.

Khuat Thu Hong, head of the Institute for Social Development Studies, said the fee is unrealistic and unlikely to be accepted by the public.

"If the fee is used to help promote Vietnam’s tourism image, its collection and distribution need to be publicized," she claimed.

Ten million Vietnamese went abroad last year, with an annual growth of 20 percent, according to the Vietnam Society of Travel Agents.

 
 
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