Japan reinstates visa-free travel
Fumio Kishida, the prime minister of Japan, announced in New York that a number of Covid border controls will be eliminated as of October 11. This move is expected to boost the tourism sector. In addition, Japan would restart its visa waiver programme, according to Kishida, who made the announcement at a news conference on Thursday morning in New York. He added that the daily arrivals cap for Japan would also be lifted.
At the New York Stock Exchange later that day, Kishida declared that Japan “would loosen border control procedures to be on a level with the US.”
As the pandemic’s deadliest wave in the nation begins to subside, Japan has decided to remove the majority of its restrictions on international visitors. The yen has also fallen to its lowest levels against the dollar in nearly 25 years, making the archipelago an affordable and alluring travel destination for tourists from abroad.
At the same time, discounts for domestic travel would be implemented, Kishida continued. Airlines, hotels, and merchants are all attempting to recoup the money they lost after experiencing a travel boom before the outbreak.
Voters who were still concerned about infections praised Kishida for his careful approach to opening up after the pandemic’s initial waves, but business leaders bemoaned the harm to the economy and pleaded with him to throw open the doors.
Prior to the implementation of Covid, Japan let visitors from 68 nations and regions—including the US—stay for up to 90 days without a visa. A record-breaking close to 32 million people visited in 2019, down from roughly 246,000 the year before.
Japan reinstates visa-free travel
Hirokazu Matsuno, the chief cabinet secretary, stated last week that the government was thinking about changing the legislation to allow hotels to reject visitors who won’t follow infection control procedures. Face masks are still fairly universally used in Japan, in contrast to many other nations, even though there is no current requirement to do so.
A few hours after Japan intervened to support the yen for the first time since 1998, Kishida added that the yen had been dropping quickly and that recent speculative actions had been seen.
Although Kishida stated that the “idea is for markets to determine currency levels,” he added that “we cannot overlook repeated large fluctuations owing to speculation.”
The Bank of Japan’s decision to maintain its ultra-low interest rates earlier on Thursday prompted the intervention, which came after months of rumors that the government would need to act to stop a 20% decline in the value of the yen this year.
The prime minister also praised a “strategy to double assets and revenue.” He pointed out that only 10% of the $14.1 trillion ($2,000 trillion) in personal financial assets are invested in stocks.
Making our modest investment tax exemption scheme for individuals permanent is crucial, according to Kishida, in order to double asset income and enable long-term asset building for retirement.
