The second conference of Vietnamese nationals abroad will be held in Ho Chi Minh City from September 26-29, the National Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs has announced.

As many as 1,000 delegates representing ministries, agencies, and Vietnamese organisations and communities abroad will attend the event. Among them are intellectuals, entrepreneurs, artists, social activists, religious followers, and students.  

Delegates will assess the development of overseas Vietnamese communities, and the results of implementation of programmes of action adopted at the first conference in November 2009, and Party and State policies for Vietnamese expatriates abroad.

They will examine ways to pool all resources of Vietnamese communities overseas to contribute to national industrialisation and modernisation.

The conference will officially take place on September 27 and will be followed by workshops which focus on the future of the communities, preservation of cultural identities and national traditions, and contributions by Vietnamese intellectuals and entrepreneurs abroad.

More than 4.5 million Vietnamese nationals are residing in over 100 countries and territories around the globe. Of the total, more than 400,000 are working at research institutions and universities in developed countries.
Overseas remittances hit over US$9.4 billion last year and US$6 billion in the first eight months of this year. To date, Vietnamese abroad have invested in approximately 2,000 projects with an estimated capitalisation of US$6 billion.

VOV