Participants at the congress selected the standing committee for the 2011-2014 period and discussed ways to improve their organization to better serve Vietnamese people living in the province.

Prey Vieng is close to Vietnam’s southern Dong Thap province and the overseas Vietnamese here are mostly fishermen, handicraft makers, sellers and livestock breeders.

Over the past 8 years, the temporary standing committee of the Vietnamese community has made important contributions to improving the lines of the people in Prey Vieng. It has also encouraged them to help each other and build schools for the children.

However, their lack of a clear legal status has presented some snags for the overseas Vietnamese in the province. Their lives and work remain unstable and the children are not properly cared for.

The congress aims to support the overseas Vietnamese community in overcoming these problems and protecting their legal rights under Cambodian law.

The same day, a delegation from Dong Thap province presented the overseas Vietnamese in Prey Veng VND30 million and 5,000 notebooks for schoolchildren. Dong Thap also plans to help build a 1,500m² primary school in Prey Veng in the future.