According to the report of the State Commission for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, overseas Vietnamese have increased in quantity and expanded residential areas. So far, more than 4.5 million Vietnamese are living, working and studying in 103 countries and territories.

In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in the number of labourers working abroad under time-limit contracts, overseas students and Vietnamese brides marrying foreign husbands.

The reality in recent years shows that the community of overseas Vietnamese is rather stable and integrates into the society of the host countries. They have remarkable economic and intellectual potential.

Overseas Vietnamese are a bridge and hold an important role in political, economic and cultural foreign affairs between Vietnam and other countries and territories in the world. More and more people, especially the youth, are successful in the fields of science and technology, economics, society and culture.

Every year, about 500,000 overseas Vietnamese return home to study opportunities to invest and run businesses. More than 3,500 enterprises were established by or received capital from overseas Vietnamese, with registered capital of about USD8.4 billion. In 2012, the overseas national currency remittance was USD6.4 billion, making an important contribution to stabilizing the balance of payments and national economics.

Besides the above advantages, there are also some challenges for overseas Vietnamese. It is necessary to renovate activities of associations of overseas Vietnamese to attract more young people. The demand to preserve Vietnamese language and cultural identities has become urgent at present.

The Party and State always defines that the community of overseas Vietnamese are an intrinsic part of the nation, and has passed policies to create favourable conditions to help them return to the homeland, as well as paying attention to cultural and spiritual activities so that overseas Vietnamese will be closer to the homeland. To further promote the role of the community of overseas Vietnamese, the Party and State need to make more policies and reform procedures to create more favourable conditions for overseas Vietnamese to feel secure to invest in Vietnam and build the homeland to be more wealthy and beautiful day by day./.

CPV