VietNamNet Bridge - Of 1,800 participants at the 9th National Patriotic Emulation Congress in Hanoi, there were 15 representatives of the community of overseas Vietnamese, who came from 14 countries and territories.

Ms. Uyen Nhu, a member of the Australian Women's Association, the eldest member of the overseas Vietnamese delegation, said she had a great experience at border stations, border landmarks and the Lao Cai International Border Gate as well as the famous tourist town of Sapa in the northern mountainous province of Lao Cai.

Nhu and the overseas Vietnamese delegation also had the opportunity to offer incense to General Vo Nguyen Giap and visited the Thang Long Imperial Citadel in Hanoi.

"I’m very happy to witness the country’s great changes. Vietnam has made huge progress and is no longer poor and backward,” she said.

Ms. Phung Tue Chau, manager of the Tieng Que Huong Radio in San Francisco, said: "We saw Mr. Nguyen Phu Binh [Ambassador Nguyen Phu Binh, former Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Chairman of the Liaison Committee for Overseas Vietnamese] on TV and today we met him."

Mr. Dinh Van Riem, a Vietnamese French, could not speak Vietnamese fluently but he tried best to express his emotion and happiness on this meaningful occasion and concern of how to further strengthen national unity.

Mr. Le Thiet Hung, Chairman of the Association of Vietnamese in Poland, suggested the Party and the State have preferential policies to attract overseas Vietnamese to contribute their strength and wisdom to the country’s development.

Hung said Vietnamese expatriates of his generation were always ready to make contributions to the home country but it would be different for the next generations if they are not educated about the love for the fatherland.

"How to make the young generations of overseas Vietnamese turn towards the home country? This should have the support and assistance of the Party and the State as well as the more practical activities of the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF)," Hung said.

Mr. Dinh Van Riem, a Vietnamese French, could not speak Vietnamese fluently but he tried best to express his emotion and happiness on this meaningful occasion and concern of how to further strengthen national unity.

Ms. Phung Tue Chau said she hoped that patriotic overseas Vietnamese would have a chance to further participate in the Vietnam Fatherland Front to have more opportunities to contribute to the country.

Some overseas Vietnamese participants asked the State to give more support for teaching Vietnamese to overseas Vietnamese children and to have more programs to promote Vietnam in the international media.

According to the Chairman of the Liaison Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Nguyen Phu Binh, the Constitution and the Resolution 36 of the Politbureau states:

"The overseas Vietnamese community is an integral part and a resource of the Vietnam ethnic communities, an important factor contributing to strengthening friendship and cooperation between our country and other countries."

The provisions in the law of Vietnam have noted the interest of overseas Vietnamese. Some new regulations even give preferential treatment to relatives of overseas Vietnamese, including exemption from visas when they return to Vietnam.

"This confirms the interest of the Party and the State to overseas Vietnamese," Binh said.

VFF Vice Chairman Nguyen Van Pha said the VFF would collect all opinions and recommendations from overseas Vietnamese to coordinate with relevant agencies to consider and deal with each petition.

Play

Thu Hang - Duc Yen - Huy Phuc