At the December 6 press briefing, Pham Hai Bang, Head of the OV committee’s Culture and Information Department, revealed that the committee will propose building an ordinance on OV-related work to create a more comprehensive legal passage for OV and policies that offer OV retirement and social insurance when they return home.

The committee will continue to improve administrative reforms and finalise regulations on immigration and citizenship, permanent residence and nationality registration. The committee aims to create the best possible conditions for Overseas Vietnamese to visit their relatives, take on holidays and conduct business in Vietnam, said Bang. The committee will also bolster the development of OVs organisations worldwide, he added.

A wide range of programmes will be held next year, including the “Homeland Spring” programme which is expected to take place at the UNESCO-recognised Thang Long Imperial Citadel on the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival. This will provide an opportunity to welcome OVs visiting during the Tet holiday, other great celebrations and summer camps for young people.

Two delegations of OVs will return home to celebrate the 100^th year that the late President Ho Chi Minh left Nha Rong Wharf to seek ways of liberating the country; and the day he went to Pac Bo in the northern province of Cao Bang from abroad 60 years ago.

According to the committee, 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 this year. In 2010, remittance from Overseas Vietnamese is estimated at US$7.2 billion, an increase of US$400 million over 2009. There are more than 3,200 OV-funded projects being carried out in Vietnam, worth nearly US$5.7 billion. The OV community has also donated over VND16.6 billion to support local people living in difficulty and victims of natural disasters.