Vietnam keeps facilitating overseas citizens' investment, business in homeland: Deputy PM

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bui Thanh Son requested relevant agencies to make proposals and streamline policies and regulations in a bid to make conditions favorable for overseas Vietnamese citizens to work, invest, and do business in Vietnam at a workshop in Hanoi on Wednesday.

The State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs held the workshop titled '65 years of connecting overseas citizens with the country and 20 years of implementing the Politburo’s Resolution 36-NQ/TW on overseas Vietnamese affairs.'

Deputy Prime Minister Son highlighted the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs' significant contributions over the past 65 years, particularly its role in proposing policies like Resolution 36.

Many of the resolution's directives have been transformed into policies and regulations addressing key needs of overseas Vietnamese, including citizenship applications, housing, land ownership, residence, investment, and business opportunities.

These efforts have strengthened connections with their homeland and mobilized resources to support the country’s development.

Deputy PM Son insisted on keeping a close watch on the lives of overseas Vietnamese to promptly propose issuing, amending, and supplementing policies and regulations; supporting overseas Vietnamese to stabilize their lives and integrate in foreign countries; and protecting their legitimate rights and benefits.

Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Le Thi Thu Hang, head of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, said many overseas citizens had joined the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the prime minister's economic advisory group, contributing opinions to the country’s important matters.

Resolution 36 has contributed to mobilizing resources from overseas Vietnamese and encouraging them to assist in the nation's development, Hang noted.

Remittances to Vietnam reached a total of US$230 billion between 1993 and 2023, the official reported.

Since 2020, remittance inflows have surpassed the country’s disbursed foreign direct investment and official development assistance loans.

These funds have played a crucial role in stabilizing the macroeconomy, alleviating poverty, and improving the livelihoods of many local households.

At the workshop, Le Van Thu, deputy head of the Ho Chi Minh City Overseas Vietnamese Committee, said the city had issued many policies to attract overseas Vietnamese intellectuals.

Some 500 Vietnamese intellectuals from various countries have returned to the city for work.

The Ho Chi Minh City Overseas Vietnamese Committee has proposed that the municipal government approve a project aimed at enhancing the impact of remittances on the city's development through 2030.

The proposed project includes policies to channel remittances into financial and securities markets and create mechanisms to attract capital from remittance recipients.

According to the State Bank of Vietnam, remittances to Ho Chi Minh City totaled $7 billion in 2021, contributing significantly to the country’s overall inflows.

The figure rose to nearly $9.5 billion last year and reached $5.18 billion in the first half of this year.