About 800 overseas Vietnamese from different countries and territories yesterday gathered at the Thang Long Imperial Citadel, the newly recognised UNESCO World Heritage site in Hanoi, to join the 2011 Homeland Spring programme to welcome the traditional lunar New Year festival, the Year of the Cat.

The live broadcast programme was jointly organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the municipal People’s Committee and the Viet Nam Television.

Speaking at the event, President Nguyen Minh Triet highlighted the country’s recent achievements including the success of the 11th Party Congress, the GDP growth rate of 6 per cent and the success of Viet Nam as the chair of ASEAN in 2010.

He said more and more overseas Vietnamese had returned home to work and participate in charity activities, especially to help local people severely hit by two floods with donations totalling more than VND16 billion $800,000).

Triet said he was proud that overseas Vietnamese had maintained their Vietnamese spirit and tradition and affirmed that they played a major part in forming Viet Nam’s national solidarity.

Nguyen Thanh Son, deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the committee for overseas Vietnamese, said the remittances last year were the highest ever at more than US$8 billion.

Son said the State and Party had boosted administrative reforms and created policies on immigration, permanent residence and nationality registration to create the best conditions for overseas Vietnamese to look for business.

Russian-Vietnamese Nguyen Hoai Nam said more and more overseas Vietnamese wished to return to their homeland to seek business opportunities here.

“The Viet Nam economy is integrating with the world,” Nam said. “In fact, it has showed its sustainability with the overcoming of the global crisis. Overseas Vietnamese, just like domestic investors, receive the same favourable tariff,” Nam said.

Nam, who is the owner of the Bac Kan Information and Technology Electric Company with an investment capital of VND70 billion ($3.5 million) for the first period, said he planned to invest more in the tourism sector, which had “untapped potential”.

“Cold weather is one of the first unique things that pop into the mind of anyone who think about Ha Noi. I’m going to build a resort in the north, where people can feel a new experience,” he said.

Vietnamese-American Khoat Van Tran said he had invested to build a five-star hospital with a total investment of $100 million in Ha Noi.

The International American Hospital, with the capacity of 500 beds and US-made medical equipment, would officially go into operation in November.

Tran said he had seen the potential of the Viet Nam economy and how it quickly changed overtime he returned to the country.

Recent international polls, carried out by the Gallup International Association, showed that Vietnamese figures among the top ten optimistic countries in the world regarding the economic outlook for 2011.

Figures from the committee for overseas Vietnamese show that nearly 4 million overseas Vietnamese are living in 103 countries and territories worldwide, of which 520,000 returned to their homeland in the first 11 months of last year.

There are more than 3,200 overseas funded projects being carried out in the country, costing nearly $5.7 billion.

Source: VNS