Laws of Vietnam

THE PRIME MINISTER

DECIDES:

Article 1.- To amend and supplement a number of articles of the Prime Minister’s Decision No. 210/1999/QD-TTg of October 27, 1999 on a number of policies towards overseas Vietnamese as follows:

1. Article 2 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"1. When returning to the country, Vietnamese citizens residing overseas and holding Vietnamese passports; people of Vietnamese origin holding foreign passports and their accompanying relatives (including spouse, parents in law, spouse’s step-child(ren), lawfully adopted child(ren), with certifications of the above-mentioned family relationship by Vietnamese representations in the host countries or the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, shall enjoy the same service charges and ticket prices for travel by different communication and transport means like Vietnamese people residing in the country.

2. People of Vietnamese origin holding foreign passports, who have made meritorious services to the cause of national liberation and construction, with certifications by Vietnamese representations in the host countries or the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, shall be exempt from visa fee when entering or exiting Vietnam.

3. Other charges and fees applicable to Vietnamese citizens residing overseas and holding Vietnamese passports and people of Vietnamese origin holding foreign passports mentioned in Clause 2 of this Article shall be the same as those applicable to Vietnamese residing in the country.

4. The ministries, the central branch-managing agencies and the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to periodically notify the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the list of people of Vietnamese origin holding foreign passports as defined in Clause 2 of this Article".

2. Article 5 is amended and supplemented as follows:

"In order to create favorable conditions for and encourage overseas Vietnamese to maintain close contacts with their native land and actively contribute to the cause of national construction, the concerned ministries and branches shall perform the following tasks:

1. Basing itself on the 2001 Law Amending and Supplementing a Number of Articles of the Land Law, the Ministry of Construction shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the concerned agencies in studying and submitting to the Government for consideration and decision the policies on residential houses in Vietnam for overseas Vietnamese.

2. The Ministry of Culture and Information shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs in organizing Vietnamese traditional cultural activities overseas in various forms, first of all in regions where reside large numbers of Vietnamese.

3. The Ministry of Education and Training shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the concerned agencies in studying and organizing the teaching of the Vietnamese language to overseas Vietnamese community, on the basis of the strict observance of laws of the host countries.

4. The Radio Voice of Vietnam and Vietnam Television Station shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the concerned agencies in effecting the cooperation with relevant organizations of various countries in order to expand Vietnamese radio and television programs overseas in service of the Vietnamese communities.

5. The Ministry for Foreign Affairs shall assume the prime responsibility and coordinate with the concerned ministries and branches in stepping up the work of information and propagation on the Internet, and the distribution of publications, cultural products and propaganda documents in service of the overseas Vietnamese community.

6. The Ministry of Finance and the Government Pricing Committee shall, in coordination with the concerned ministries and branches, base themselves on the annual actual transportation volume abroad to provide subsidies for the costs of transport of films, publications, cultural products, tourist propaganda publications and propaganda documents to overseas Vietnamese community; air fares for domestic art troupes for performance in service of overseas Vietnamese community. The subsidy level is 50% of the total transportation charge and air fares actually paid to the transporting units (by land, railway, waterway, airway or post).

The list of publications, cultural products, tourist propaganda publications, propaganda documents and films to overseas Vietnamese community is composed of publications already published and distributed throughout the country in service of political purposes, propagating policies of the Party and the State, without breaching Article 22 of the Publication Law.

Domestic art troupes must be recommended by the Ministry of Culture and Information or the Ministry for Foreign Affairs for performance in service of overseas Vietnamese community".

Article 2.- This Decision takes effect 15 days after its signing. All previous stipulations which are contrary to this Decision are now annulled.

Article 3.- The ministers, the heads of the ministerial-level agencies, the heads of the agencies attached to the Government and the presidents of the People’s Committees of the provinces and centrally-run cities shall have to implement this Decision.

For the Prime Minister
Deputy Prime Minister
NGUYEN MANH CAM