Health
Thailand suspends visa for citizens of 21 countries
The 18 countries are Bulgaria, Bhutan, China (including Taiwan), Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Malta, Mexico, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu.
The Prime Minister has canceled the visa-on-arrival (VOA) and visa-free travel schemes for a number of countries to contain the spread of COVID-19.
Thailand has suspended the visa on arrival (VOA) facility for citizens of 18 countries and has scrapped visa free access for those from Italy, South Korea and Hong Kong with immediate effect.
The 18 countries are Bulgaria, Bhutan, China (including Taiwan), Cyprus, Ethiopia, Fiji, Georgia, India, Kazakhstan, Malta, Mexico, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Vanuatu.
In order to enter Thailand, the interior minister explained that citizens from these countries will now have to apply for visas at Thai embassies or consular offices in their own countries and they will be required to show a doctor’s certificate, confirming that they are not infected with coronavirus.
This increased control measure will become effective immediately and remain until the virus situation has eased, said Anupong, adding that citizens of these countries arriving in Thailand, by whatever means of transport, will be quarantined for 14 days at the Novotel Hotel at Suvarnabhumi international airport and, if they do not want to be quarantined, they can elect to return home.
BANGKOK (NNT) – AstraZeneca has approved safety standards at Thailand’s vaccine factory and will send the first batch of raw materials for vaccine production in June.
Health
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– Chinese overseas investment dropped off in 2020
– Government remains committed to the wide-ranging infrastructure programme
– Sustainability, health and digital to be the new cornerstones of the initiative
Following a year of coronavirus-related disruptions, China appears to be placing a greater focus on sustainable, digital and health-related projects in its flagship Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
As OBG outlined in April last year, the onset of Covid-19 prompted questions about the future direction of the BRI.
Launched in 2013, the BRI is an ambitious international initiative that aims to revive ancient Silk Road trade routes through large-scale infrastructure development.
By the start of 2020 some 2951 BRI-linked projects – valued at a total of $3.9trn – were planned or under way across the world.
However, as borders closed and lockdowns were imposed, progress stalled on a number of major BRI infrastructure developments.
In June China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that 30-40% of BRI projects had been affected by the virus, while a further 20% had been “seriously affected”. Restrictions on the flow of Chinese workers and construction supplies were cited as factors behind project suspensions or slowdowns in Pakistan, Cambodia and Indonesia, among other countries.
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