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Remittances to rise again this year
The volume of remittances from overseas Vietnamese may surge again this year, bankers have said. Tran Xuan Huy, CEO of Sacombank, said in the first six months of 2011, total remittances via the bank had amounted to US$800 million, a year-on-year increase of 3 per cent.
He said Sacombank was expected to reach profits of VND10 billion ($500,000) from remittance services this year, compared with VND3-4 billion in 2010.
Remittances via ACB's Western Union centre in the first half of the year rose by 8 per cent over last year, and the figure was expected to increase to 10 per cent for the entire year.
"Remittances from overseas Vietnamese are expected to increase in the second half of the year. That is when they remit money for their families for the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday," said Tran Cong Binh, head of ACB's Western Union Centre.
Meanwhile, the Dong A Bank's remittance centre expected that the target of a year-on-year increase of 20 per cent in overseas Vietnamese remittances in 2011 would help the bank take the lead in receiving remittances this year.
Last year, Dong A received total remittances of $1.2 billion, 20 per cent higher than 2009's figure.
According to the Governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV), Nguyen Van Giau, Viet Nam has 55,000 guest workers working abroad, who earned from $1.8 billion to $2 billion per year.
Some 3 million overseas Vietnamese live abroad. Giau said, they remitted at least $6.5 billion per year in the past five years.
Overseas Vietnamese's remittances have provided a significant source of foreign currency to Viet Nam's economy, said Giau.
With promotional campaigns launched recently by local banks, remittance flow to
Viet Nam this year is expected to exceed $8 billion, the same rate as in 2010.
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