Overseas Vietnamese return home for the lunar New Year holiday last January at Tan Son Nhat Airport in Ho Chi Minh City.

Some 300 overseas Vietnamese will attend a ceremony to be held in Hai Phong this Sunday to commemorate the 50th year of the day Ho Chi Minh welcomed overseas Vietnamese returning to the country through the city’s port.

At a press conference held to announce the event, Hoang Van Ke, chairman of the Hai Phong People’s Committee, said on the occasion the city would issue licenses for two projects by overseas Vietnamese investors – an overseas Vietnamese village and a 300-bed international hospital.

Two music shows – Noi tinh que huong (Love for the Homeland) and Xuan que huong (Spring in the Motherland), scheduled for January and February – will complement a singing competition for overseas Vietnamese, a youth camp for younger Viet kieu during the lead-up to Hanoi’s birthday celebrations, and possibly a trip to visit Vietnamese soldiers stationed in Truong Sa (Spratly) archipelago.

At least 350,000 overseas Vietnamese are expected to return to the country for the lunar New Year, higher than last year despite the economic difficulties, according to Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Thanh Son, who is also the chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese.

Son said the campaign shows Vietnam’s commitment to welcome its overseas citizens home with favorable policies.

The first national conference of overseas Vietnamese was held in Hanoi last November, attracting delegates from 101 countries and territories.

Reported by Huong Le