A gathering of overseas Vietnamese for the 2012 Lunar New Year Festival will take place in Ho Chi Minh City next Saturday. Billed as ‘Overseas Vietnamese – bridge linking Vietnamese brands’, the meeting will convene 600 people from all around the world returning home for Tet. Free consultations on Vietnam’s laws and policies will be provided and an exchange program will be organized with overseas Vietnamese who have developed Vietnamese brands in aquatic products, food, healthcare and culture. Luong Bach Van, President of the Liaison Association of Overseas Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City says ‘For many years, overseas Vietnamese have contributed remarkably to introducing Vietnamese products to the outside world. But the more Vietnam engages in the global market, the fiercer the competition the country must face. So overseas Vietnamese need to get involved in the programme ‘Vietnamese people prefer made-in-Vietnam goods’. The exchange encourages Vietnamese living abroad to do more to integrate Vietnam into the world economy’.