(VOVworld)- More than 4.5 million Vietnamese people are working and living in 109 countries and territories worldwide. They are an important resource for Vietnam’s national development. Overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and experts gathered at a forum in Hanoi on Sunday to contribute their opinions to Vietnam’s economic development and integration over the next five years.
Themed “Improving Vietnam’s competitiveness in the global economy”, the forum was co-organised by the Party Central Committee’s Economic Commission, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, and the Foreign Ministry. The same day, overseas Vietnamese intellectuals gathered at a meeting to discuss major policies and issues in ensuring Vietnam’s sustainable growth.
Overseas Vietnamese interested in the homeland’s major issues
For the first time, overseas Vietnamese intellectuals, who are working in education and training, finance-banking, biotechnology, IT, aircraft design and health care in prestigious universities, research institutes, transnational economic groups and international organizations from around the world gathered at a meeting to introduce a range of recommendations for Vietnam’s development. They stressed the need to invest more in agriculture with a focus on protecting Vietnamese gene.
Professor Tran Ngoc Anh, Director of the Vietnam Initiative Group, sayas agriculture is the foundation for national development, so it’s important to focus on industrialization and human resource development: “Agriculture is the starting point of all reforms. We have successfully reformed our agriculture and we still have a lot of potential. It’s a good idea to develop Vietnam into an agricultural power. In the 21st century, nothing is more important than human resources. So we need to work out plans to improve qualifications and skills of our human resources”.
Overseas Vietnamese intellectuals urged the government to take advantage of international support to create breakthroughs, and create opportunities for them to contribute to national growth. They introduced recommendations on using IT to govern the country. They promised to work with the Party, government and the Fatherland Front to further develop the country.
More attention should be made to mobilize OV resources
OV intellectuals are an important resource for national industrialization and modernization. In recent years, the Vietnamese Party and State have put in place several policies to encourage overseas Vietnamese intellectuals to contribute to national growth. Speaking at the forum of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals, Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan reiterated that overseas Vietnamese are an inseparable part of the nation. Their knowledge, experience and skills have contributed to the country’s fast and sustainable growth, she said, adding that the Party and State always appreciate these valuable contributions: “It’s important to listen to and summarize all ideas and contributions while fine-tuning mechanisms and policies in the new period. Through this forum, I hope that overseas Vietnamese, domestic and foreign intellectuals will further cooperate to introduce appropriate proposals to Vietnam’s development and integration”.
Contributions by overseas Vietnamese intellectuals will serve as a foundation for the Vietnamese Party and State to build mechanism and policies to boost national socio-economic development in the international integration process.