Hundreds of
thousands of Viet Kieu (overseas Vietnamese) have been flocking to Vietnam from
all over the world in order to celebrate Tet in the homeland. In their luggage
they bring back  not only the capital
they have saved, but also the knowledge and technologies they have learned,
which they will use in doing business thus contributoing to the development of
the country.

According
to Tuoi tre newspaper, it is estimated that tens of millions of dollars are
sent by Viet Kieu to their relatives in Vietnam every day. part of the
money is waiting to be funneled into investments s.

Determined to become rich in the
homeland

According
to the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the country will receive hundreds of
thousands of Viet Kieu who return to Vietnam to celebrate Tet. Tran Hoa
Phuong, Deputy Chair of the HCM City Committee for Overseas Vietnamese said
that in 2010, about 500,000 Viet Kieu returned to the city to visit the homeland,
visit relatives and seek business opportunities. The city is expected to
receive 50,000 Viet Kieu this 2011 Tet alone, including the ones returning from
developed economies such as the US,
Australia or Canada and
European countries.

Phuong
said that most Viet Kieu bring cash with themselves which they can use for many
purposes, such as making purchases, buying houses in Vietnam or making
investments. “We have organized a tour for 80 Viet Kieu around key projects in HCM City,
such as the Phu My Bridge, orThu Thiem tunnel. Most of them were surprised at
the strong development of HCM City and said they wished to return to Vietnam to do
business,” Phuong said.

At
the meeting held by the Overseas Vietnamese Business Association, a lot of Viet
Kieu share the same willingness to return to Vietnam to to do business here. At
the meeting, Do Ngoc Quynh, a former Viet Kieu in Germany,
says that many friends of his wish to return to Vietnam as well. Especially, they
are very interested in the biogas projects, and in other fields, such as
environment technology, information technology and waste management.

According
to Phan Tham, Chair of the Overseas Vietnamese Business Association in HCM City,
the high-tech park in HCM
City has attracted 10
projects invested in by Viet Kieu.

New careers, why not?

Having
good relations with businessmen and deep knowledge about the market after 10
years of living in France, Tran Quoc Hieu says that he will would spend the 20
days in Vietnam vising the workshops that make banh trang (girdle cakes), banh
phong tom (glutinous rice chupatty mixed with powdered shrimp), sweets and
bamboo-made interior decoration products in order to discuss potential business
cooperation. Hieu plans to import the products and sell them in France.

He
went on to say that he has got the price quotations for some products, and he
plans to import 10 tons of banh trang a month in the immediate time. Returning
with the capital of 300,000 dollars, Hieu and his friends are moving ahead with
the plan to set up a company in Vietnam.

Tran
Van Binh, Director of Van Tran Company, who returned to Vietnam after 40 years of studying and working
in Germany, says that he
will spend nine months in Vietnam
and three months in Germany,
so he can manage his business in Vietnam.

The
company has carried out many consultancy projects, and it is planning to team
up with a foreign partner to invest in
clean energy, especially the wind power. “A lot of my friends said they
want to make investment in the clean energy. They are awaiting new policies in
this field,” he said.

Education
services also attracts the interest of
many Viet Kieu businessmen. .Le Duc Vinh, a Viet Kieu in Singapore,
says that since his wife still has Vietnamese nationality, , it is very easy
for her to do business. While his wife, Pham Thi Nhu Tram, is investing in
stocks and real estate, Vinh says he will inject money in the education sector.

“A
friend of mine, also from Singapore,
has opened an international school in HCM City
which has been operating very well. I think the education sector is very
attractive,” VInh said.

Source: Tuoi
tre