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Reaching out to Overseas Vietnamese
Taking care of young Overseas Vietnamese (Viet Kieu) should be a national priority, said Pham Khac Lam, vice chairman of the Association for Liaison with Overseas Vietnamese (ALOV) in a talk with the Hai Quan (Customs) newspaper.
The lives of Overseas Vietnamese people have recent improved, which has resulted in greater contributions by them to the country. What is your assessment about their contribution to poverty reduction and hunger eradication?
Overseas Vietnamese have steadily affirmed their status and position in society. Out of about 3 million people, many live in developed countries such as the US and France.
Estimates show that about 3,000 enterprises are totally owned or co-owned by Overseas Vietnamese with total investment reaching US$2 billion. This is a significant figure because only a short time ago the number stood at only a few hundred million dollars.
Moreover, remittances from Overseas Vietnamese to the country reached $7 billion in 2008, some of which was used to invest in land, houses and businesses.
More Overseas Vietnamese have joined the poverty reduction and hunger eradication through different programmes that focus on helping the homeless, disabled and others.
Do you think the Party and State have sufficient policies for Overseas Vietnamese? Are they satisfied with these policies?
The Party and State have had a clear and consistent policy that Overseas Vietnamese are part of Vietnamese society, meaning they have the same rights and duties as other people. A lot of policies and legal documents, such as the nationality law, prove this fact.
The country has issued favourable policies such as entry visas, residence permits and repatriation so that Overseas Vietnamese feel more comfortable and find it easy to return.
More and more young Overseas Vietnamese are being born abroad. What should be done to help them develop a closer connection to the country?
It is essential to care about young Overseas Vietnamese. This should be our first priority, actually, because they help expand the Viet Kieu community. If we do not care about them now, in the future, there will not be an Overseas Vietnamese community, there will only be foreigners with Vietnamese roots.
We will try to avoid this situation in different ways. First we must teach them Vietnamese, because language is the most important thing to connect them with the country, to help them understand their country's culture. By doing this, no matter where they go, they will still miss their homeland.
Another reality is that many students who study abroad do not want to return to the country after finishing their studies. What are the reasons, as well as some solutions, for this problem?
Many things attract students to stay and work abroad, but the main ones are the good working environments and good infrastructure that can be found in some other countries. Some students say they want to return to Viet Nam to work, but it is not easy because their degree and their desired careers are still new at home. Therefore, staying abroad is the best way to get the job they want.
Every year, more students go abroad to study. They are an important resource to help the country catch up with modern technologies from different countries.
If we do not learn how to keep these resources, brain drain will become a more serious problem. The Party and the State need to develop suitable policies for them to return and work at home, such as simplifying administrative procedures.
VietNamNet, VietNamNews
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