(VOVworld) – Overseas Vietnamese, who number over 4 million in 100 countries and territories, are an inseparable part of the Vietnamese nation. The second conference of Overseas Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City has been discussing ways to tap the resources of overseas Vietnamese for national development. VOV editor Thu Hoa has the story:

In the 3 years since the 1^st conference in November, 2009, the Overseas Vietnamese community has grown. They are a young and dynamic community, with the potential for investment, businesses, science and technology, and higher positions in their respective countries. Vietnam is proud that they have been recognized by the international community in high tech, health care, business, culture, and other fields. Astronomy Professor Dr. Tran Thanh Van was the third Asian to be awarded the Tate Medal by the American Institute of Physics. Prof. Ngo Bao Chau won international acclaim for proving the fundamental lemma for automorphic forms proposed by Robert Langlands and Diana Shelstad. Prof. Trinh Xuan Thuan was awarded the Cino Del Duca World Prize by the French Academy. Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son told VOV: “In line with the Party Politburo’s Directive 36 on overseas Vietnamese affairs, the Vietnamese community abroad are not only an inseparable part of Vietnam, but also an important resource for national construction. Their remittance has increased year after year by between 10 and 15%. In 2011, 9.2 billion USD was sent home to alleviate poverty and invest in projects and social security programs.”

To date, there have been more than 3,500 overseas Vietnamese-invested projects worth some 8.4 billion USD. The National Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs has hosted a wide range of activities for overseas Vietnamese such as visiting the homeland to welcome the Lunar New Year, processions to mark the 1,000^th anniversary of Hanoi and the death anniversary of Hung Kings, summer camps and delivery gifts to soldiers stationed in the Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelagoes. Such activities have brought overseas Vietnamese closer to their homeland and involved them in the nation’s major events.

The Party and State highly value the important role that overseas Vietnamese communities play in national development and seek to take full advantage of these resources for Vietnam’s development and international integration. Deputy Foreign Minister Nguyen Thanh Son said: “Our policies have given great encouragement to overseas Vietnamese, from the laws on citizenship and housing to the law on entry-exit. But I think some conditions in the law on domestic investment needs to be improved. Many projects wholly owned by overseas Vietnamese are difficult to operate. The central government’s policies are open, but at local levels, Overseas Vietnamese are considered foreigners. So efforts should be made to institutionalize Directive 36 by passing laws to attract more Overseas Vietnamese resources for national construction. By doing so, their devotion to their homeland will become deeper”.

The second national conference of Overseas Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City is providing an opportunity for Overseas Vietnamese to witness recent changes in Vietnam and solidify their trust in the Party and State and discuss the future of the communities, preservation of cultural identities and national traditions, and contributions by Vietnamese intellectuals and entrepreneurs.