(VOVworld) – Vietnam’s socio-economic development achievements in 2014 have been partly thanks to overseas Vietnamese living and working in more than 100 countries and territories. Their contributions have illustrated national unity and the state policy that considers overseas Vietnamese an inseparable part of the nation.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front holds a meeting with overseas Vietnamese during Tet

Approximately 4 million overseas Vietnamese are living in 100 countries. They always turn to the fatherland and want to play a part in building a more prosperous nation.

Participating in several sectors

About 500,000 overseas Vietnamese, including intellectuals and experts, return to Vietnam to work in scientific and social areas. Thousands of them visit Vietnam to seek business opportunities. Overseas Vietnamese have invested in about 2,000 projects, generating about 20 billion USD annually. Last year remittance to Vietnam reached 12 billion USD, making Vietnam one of the world’s top 10 countries in receiving remittance.  In the past, the remittance went to real estate, the stock market, and savings banks. Now it is often invested in production and tradie. Helen Van, a Vietnamese-Swedish businesswoman, has successfully operated 3 companies in Sweden. She has put money into building an elder care center, an orphanage, and the Bac Au Tourist Village in Phu Yen province, a sanatorium. Ms. Van said: “I return to my home country to do business. Everything has been fine. The fatherland is our root.  No matter how rich we are or where we go, we always want to return home to do something for our homeland.”

Every Vietnamese living abroad is considered an ambassador of Vietnamese culture. Tran Hai Linh, Chairman of the Association of Vietnamese in the Republic of Korea, said the Association has engaged in several activities promoting the image of Vietnam and teaching the Vietnamese language. The Association also works with the Vietnamese Embassy to organize the annual Vietnamese traditional cultural festival.

Nguyen Phu Binh, President of the Liaison Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, said: “Overseas Vietnamese are increasing steadily in number, because they left Vietnam in different circumstances and with different motivation. But they share a common sense of strong attachment to the homeland. In recent years, the unstable situation in some countries has affected their lives. But overseas Vietnamese in several countries have been doing well and strengthening relations with people in Vietnam.”

Creating opportunities for overseas Vietnamese to engage in national development

Over the past 5 decades, since President Ho Chi Minh welcomed the first ship of nearly 1 million Vietnamese-Thai to visit their homeland, the Party and the State have always paid attention to overseas Vietnamese affairs by issuing resolutions and incentive policies matching the aspirations of Vietnamese living abroad. Van Duong Thanh, a Vietnamese- Swedish, said: “There have been favorable policies for businesses. Cultural traditions and spiritual life are important too. We also want to contribute our cultural and art knowledge accumulated abroad to Vietnam.  We’ve organized charity classes and help young people to access international prestigious universities.”

The Vietnamese Party, State, and Vietnam Fatherland Front will work harder to meet the wishes of overseas Vietnamese. VFF President Nguyen Thien Nhan said: “Caring for the cultural life and enhancing the connection between Vietnamese inside and outside the country are important tasks. We’ve drafted a project to promote traditional culture to overseas Vietnamese. It will include a forum for intellectuals. We will develop a scientific forum for domestic and overseas Vietnamese scientists to share their knowledge.”

Enhancing the role of overseas Vietnamese and their relations with the nation is an important task in national construction and development.