VietNamNet Bridge – Around 1,000 overseas Vietnamese (OVs) have gathered at the second Conference for Overseas Vietnamese, currently underway in HCM City.

The event’s opening on September 27 was attended by Politburo and Party Central Committee Secretariat member Le Hong Anh, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) Huynh Dam, and leaders from central and local agencies.

The 2012 conference has been themed “Vision to 2020 – the Overseas Vietnamese Community’s Integration and Development with the Nation.”  It offers delegates the chance to review international and domestic situations as they relate to maintaining the  expatriate community’s close ties.  

The conference will also debate views on how OVs can best contribute to Vietnam’s continued development and international integration.

Over the years, the overseas Vietnamese community abroad has increased to 4.5 million people, living and working in 103 countries and territories across the world.

Economic opportunities and the stability to seize them have meant OVs now enjoy better living standards and an easier integration into their countries of residence.

Vietnamese nationals abroad continually affirm their importance in political, economic and cultural diplomacy.

Members of younger generations have earned success in areas as diverse as science and technology, economics, culture and politics, and in countries including the US, Canada, Australia, and Germany.

As many as 500,000 OVs return home each year, bringing with them their expertise, intellect, and business acumen. More than 3,500 domestic projects have attracted OVs investment, amounting to a registered total of around US$8.4 billion.

Overseas remittances have also increased by an average of 10-15 percent annually Remittances worth more than US$9 billion in 2011 and US$6.4 billion in the first half of 2012 made significant contributions to stabilising the national economy.

In his speech at the opening ceremony, Mr Le Hong Anh spoke highly of the delegates in attendance, citing their presence as vividly manifesting the aspirations, unity, and will of the 4-million-strong OVs community they represent. He praised their decision to look towards their homeland.

Anh noted, however, that not all international destinations have allowed OVs to attain security and legal stability, He also stressed the urgent need to preserve cultural identities and traditions within the OVs community, including promoting the continued use of the Vietnamese language.

According to Anh, the OVs associations aimed at defending the community’s interests in matters like nationality, business and investment, and housing purchase and ownership are encountering a number of difficulties.

In addition, he acknowledged the absence of specific policies incentivising and encouraging OVs to return to work in Vietnam.  
Mr Le Hong Anh said the conference should assess the contemporary state of the OVs community and consider the efficiency of programs and policies currently in action.

Foreign Minister Pham Binh Minh affirmed that the Party, State and people always respect the sentiments OVs have for their country and continue to consider them an integral part of the Vietnamese nation.

Minister Minh pledged that the Government will continue listening to the ideas of the OVs. He said the Party and State has always wanted to maximise the community’s contributions to national development, offering to begin work on new policies specifically facilitating OVs’ aspirations.

Four symposiums followed the opening ceremony, discussing matters including integration and economic development, cultural identity and national traditions, the overseas Vietnamese academy and its relation to industrialisation and modernisation, and how overseas entrepreneurs should work for the future of the country and community.

Over the four-day conference delegates will participate in exchanges at several economically and culturally important sites in Ho Chi Minh City and a number of south-eastern provinces.

VietNamNet/VOV