(VOVWORLD) - These days, overseas Vietnamese people around the world are returning home for Tet, Vietnam’s traditional lunar New Year Festival. At meetings with Vietnamese leaders, overseas Vietnamese expressed their excitement about celebrating the New Year at home after a period of social distancing due to the COVID-19.
 President Nguyen Xuan Phuc meets overseas Vietnamese attending the program "Spring in the homeland" (Photo: thanhnien.vn) |
Contributions by overseas Vietnamese are an important resource for national development, particularly in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Overseas Vietnamese make great contribution to national development
The number of overseas Vietnamese investing and doing business in Vietnam is growing. Vietnam is among the 10 largest recipients of overseas remittances in the world.
Many overseas Vietnamese experts and scientists are returning home to contribute their skills and knowledge to Vietnam’s science and technology development.
In recent years, in countries that have a large Vietnamese community, networks of Vietnamese scientists and intellectuals have been set up and connected with those in the homeland.
AVSE Global, an organization of Vietnamese scientists and experts headquartered in Paris but with a global reach, has 200 members. A Vietnam Initiative Group was set up in the US while networks of Vietnamese scientists were established in Japan, the Netherlands, Finland, Germany, Poland, and the US. Vietnamese experts and intellectuals in South Korea, Japan, Australia, and Europe have joined Networks of Creative Innovation in their resident countries. The Network of Overseas Vietnamese Intellectuals Supporting Innovation and Technology Commercialization debuted last December.
Overseas Vietnamese have been united in their support for Vietnam’s fight against COVID-19. In 2021, they donated more than 3.5 million USD to the COVID-19 Vaccine Fund as well as medical equipment and supplies . Many overseas Vietnamese have worked closely with partners in Vietnam to transfer COVID-19 vaccine technology, have shared their experience in containing the pandemic, have worked on the frontline against the disease, and have cooperated with Vietnamese agencies overseas to mobilize vaccines and medical support for Vietnam.
 President Nguyen Xuan Phuc speaks at the program "Spring in the homeland" (Photo: thannien.vn) |
President Nguyen Xuan Phuc said: "I share with our people living overseas the difficulties they have had to suffer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and I’m proud of what we have achieved. Overseas Vietnamese have stayed united and responsive to the pandemic and have helped one another to restore economic activity. And they have helped the government and citizens of their residence country cope with the pandemic. "
Party, State policies for overseas Vietnamese applauded
Luong Thu Thao, who lives in Thailand, was excited to be warmly received by Vietnamese leaders at home and to participate in the “Spring in the Homeland” program for overseas Vietnamese during Tet.
Professor Dr. Yang Dao praised changes in Vietnam and the policies for overseas Vietnamese. Peter Hong, Vice President and Secretary General of the Overseas Vietnamese Business Association, says that whenever he returns home, he has a special feeling. He hopes for more opportunities for Vietnamese abroad to pay gratitude to their native land. Pham Thi Oanh, who lives in Russia, says she’s happy with what the Party and State do for overseas Vietnamese. Nguyen Viet Trieu from Poland said: "We’re happy and honored to receive the warm sentiments that the Party and State have for us."
Despite living far from Vietnam, overseas Vietnamese want to return home and contribute to their homeland.