Tapping into resources of overseas Vietnamese

ABO/NDO - Vietnamese people are steeped in the tradition of returning to their homeland when the Lunar New Year (Tet) arrives to call in on their relatives, pay respects to the deceased, visit Buddhist temples, meet old friends and get together to enjoy a Tet feast.

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong meet overseas Vietnamese attending the "Homeland Spring" programme.

The “Homeland Spring” programme, held annually by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is a significant event which fulfils the homecoming desires of overseas Vietnamese and helps to arouse their love for the country, pride in the country’s achievements and confidence in the country’s future.

The 2019 edition of the programme took place on January 26 with the participation of nearly 1,000 exemplary overseas Vietnamese, representing 4.5 million Vietnamese people living in more than 110 countries and territories around the world.

 

At the event, General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed that the motherland and the government always hold the overseas Vietnamese very dear, like parents who miss and love their children who are away from home.

 

In recent years, the Party and State have always created favourable conditions for overseas Vietnamese to have a stable life in the countries where they are living while still maintaining a close bond with the homeland.

 

Policies have been formulated and fine-tuned to attract talents among overseas Vietnamese and call on Vietnamese people living abroad to invest and do business in Vietnam to help with country’s economic development.

 

The Vietnamese economy is becoming more open and deeply integrated with the series of new free trade agreements being implemented. The wish of having opportunities to get rich in the homeland is the legitimate right of all Vietnamese people living outside the country. According to the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, there are currently 3,000 projects invested in Vietnam by Vietnamese people living abroad.

 

Over the past ten years, remittances each year rose by 10-15% annually. Many overseas Vietnamese have become the bridge between domestic and foreign enterprises, helping to take Vietnamese goods to many countries around the world.Thanks to their knowledge, technology, economic resources and connections with many foreign enterprises, as well as Vietnam’s incentive policies, enterprises run by overseas Vietnamese have made significant contributions to the domestic economy.

 

However, there are still certain problems facing overseas Vietnamese. Some have yet to correctly understand the situation in Vietnam and the promotion of traditional culture and the Vietnamese language among the younger generation is facing difficulties.

 

The contributions of overseas Vietnamese people are not commensurate with the potential of the Vietnamese community abroad. There is a shortage of forums to bring together Vietnamese businessmen from around the world where they can share their experience on what they can do to help the country.

 

2018 just ended with significant achievements, thanks to the Party’s leadership, the efforts of the entire people and the substantive contributions of overseas Vietnamese.

 

General Secretary and President Nguyen Phu Trong affirmed once again that no matter where they are living, overseas Vietnamese people are always an inseparable part of the motherland.

 

Therefore, the policies towards overseas Vietnamese needs to be further fine-tuned in order to enhance the national solidarity bloc, support overseas Vietnamese people to preserve national traditions, and to further bring into play their resources to develop the country.