Remittances to HCM City by overseas Vietnamese in the first nine months of this year were worth at US$3.8 billion, a 7 per cent increase year-on-year, according to figures from the State Bank of Viet Nam’s city branch.

At a conference titled ‘Overseas Vietnamese Join Hands with HCM City Business People’, Phung Cong Dung, chairman of the HCM City Association for Overseas Vietnamese, said the figure could reach $5 billion for the full year.

The remittances are increasing as more Vietnamese, especially guest workers, go and live in countries around the world, he said.

Members of Overseas Vietnamese communities seek investment opportunities in their homeland, which has achieved significant economic growth in the last few decades, he said.

The Government has also simplified procedures for overseas remittances, he said.

Relations between the overseas Vietnamese community and local businesses should be promoted for mutual assistance and sustainable development, he added.

Nguyen Cong Chinh, a member of the German Overseas Vietnamese Association and standing member of the Overseas Vietnamese Business Association, said association members have invested millions of dollars in Viet Nam.

In addition to foreign direct investment, the overseas Vietnamese community has also contributed significantly to human resource development, he said.

Pham Thiet Hoa, director of the HCM City Investment & Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC), said the city has called on businesspeople, especially from the overseas Vietnamese community, to invest in major projects in focal economic sectors.

The ITPC has pledged to promote relations between overseas Vietnamese businesses and city authorities, and address the difficulties faced by the overseas Vietnamese business community.

Two MoUs were signed by the overseas and local business communities at the conference, one between the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese in HCM City and the ITPC, and the other between the Viet Nam-Korea Business and Investment Association and the Overseas Vietnamese Business Association in Italy.

The conference was organised by the HCM City Association of Overseas Vietnamese to celebrate the 15th Vietnamese Businesspeople’s Day, October 13. — VNS.