Deputy FM Dang Minh Khoi stresses better support for overseas Vietnamese

Deputy Foreign Minister Dang Minh Khoi. (Photo: Tuan Anh)

Khoi, also Chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, made the statement in an interview granted to Vietnamese reporters on the sidelines of the ongoing 13th National Congress of the Communist Party of Viet Nam (CPV) in Hanoi on January 29.

He said that in the political report delivered at the Congress, Party General Secretary and State President Nguyen Phu Trong stressed that in the coming years, Viet Nam must make greater efforts to support Vietnamese living abroad in order to help them consolidate their legal status, integrate better into the host countries, and boost socio-economic development.

It is necessary to do a good job of protecting the legitimate interests of overseas Vietnamese, and help them continue studying the Vietnamese language to preserve the national identity, he said.

“We must also better information work towards Vietnamese expatriates so that they can come closer to the homeland, look more towards the homeland, and have more trust in the country,” he noted.

According to the Deputy FM, last year, his ministry conducted fact-finding trips to a number of localities across the country, including Ho Chi Minh City, Hai Phong and central provinces and found that the local leaders had paid great attention to implementing policies for overseas Vietnamese.

Especially, the localities have many initiatives to connect overseas Vietnamese and those at home, he said, citing HCM City holds an annual get-together for OVs to look into their difficulties as well as partly meet their aspirations.

These policies have seen positive outcomes and received a warm response from Vietnamese abroad, he stressed.

However, he noted that the 5.3-million-strong OV community is very diverse, featuring many generations with different educational levels and economic conditions. “Therefore, Vietnamese agencies, sectors and localities need to have more specific and flexible approaches to OVs so that they can contribute more to the nation,” he stressed.

The Politburo’s Resolution No. 36 on overseas Vietnamese issued in 2004 has affirmed that the Party and State always consider the OV community an inseparable part of the Vietnamese nation.

Over the past time, many mechanisms and policies had been issued and implemented to create more favourable conditions for overseas Vietnamese.

According to Deputy FM Khoi, the number of Vietnamese living abroad increased from 4.5 million people in 109 countries and territories in 2015 to 5.3 million in 130 countries and territories in 2019.

As of October 2020, overseas Vietnamese from 27 countries and territories had invested in 362 foreign direct investment projects in Viet Nam with a total registered capital of 1.6 billion USD.

From 2015 to 2019, the total remittances totaled 71 billion USD. The figure was forecast by the World Bank to reach about 15.6 billion USD in 2020.

Overseas Vietnamese have always responded positively to calls for donation and support for local people in overcoming the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as natural disasters, evidenced by their response to recent historic floods and storms in central Viet Nam, Khoi said.

The Party, State and Government of Viet Nam always appreciate the valuable contributions of the Vietnamese community abroad, and also want them to accompany and continue making contributions to national development, he affirmed.

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