First ever Overseas Vietnamese conference held

The first conference of overseas Vietnamese, convened by the Foreign Ministry in Hanoi on Nov. 21-23, with the attendance of more than 1,500 domestic and overseas delegates, will underline the strength of the nation’s unity.

This was stated by Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Pham Gia Khiem in an article published in the Nhan Dan (The People) daily newspaper on Nov. 20.

In his article, Deputy PM Khiem went at lengths to point out the significance of the event, which is “the first time a large-scale conference bringing together overseas Vietnamese from all walks of life and ages from every continent in the world together.”

About 1,000 overseas Vietnamese delegates, who are specialists, intellectuals, businesspeople, artists, social activists, religious dignitaries, heads of organisations and young people have registered for the event.

They represent more than 4 million Vietnamese expats who have the desire and will to strengthen solidarity so as to enable their communities to develop and contribute to their homeland’s cause of national construction.

The conference aims to encourage a broad forum for overseas Vietnamese people to voice their opinions on policies for overseas Vietnamese people to the Party and State’s leaders for discussion.

At the conference, all the issues relating to overseas Vietnamese communities will be reviewed, to work out practical ways of advancing their communities and assist them to integrate into their adopted countries.

The event also aims to mobilise resources from the overseas Vietnamese community to further the country’s industrialisation and modernisation process.

The conference will be a chance to honour outstanding collectives and individuals both in and outside of the country, that made great contributions to movements to encourage overseas Vietnamese people to join in the homeland’s construction and defence.

It will also help to heighten the awareness of the relevant ministries, agencies, sectors and localities in order to successfully implement the Party and State’s policies on great national unity.

In order to increase links between the overseas Vietnamese community and the nation, Deputy PM Khiem highlighted the tasks that need to be done in overseas Vietnamese related affairs.

Firstly, to provide the right conditions for overseas Vietnamese people to be able to build and maintain links with their homeland.

The Deputy PM stressed on the need to preserve the nation’s traditional and cultural identities, meet cultural and spiritual demands and especially to promote the use of the mother tongue among young overseas Vietnamese people.

In addition, attention also needs to be paid to disseminating information to the overseas Vietnamese community on the country’s development and the Party and State’s policies on great national unity.

Secondly, to further the intellectual and economic contributions made by overseas Vietnamese people to the country’s development, uphold the role of businesses in enabling domestic products and services to enter the global market, and raise the efficiency of their investment projects in the country.

Thirdly, to improve the efficiency in implementing policies on the overseas Vietnamese and enhance the coordination between ministries, agencies, sectors and localities in their work.

“The first conference will be a festival of great national unity, as it will gather representatives from all over the world and show the overseas Vietnamese community’s feelings and aspirations towards their homeland,” said Deputy PM Khiem in conclusion.

Tags: Vietnam business news, Vietnam economic conference