A get-together “Spring in the homeland” was held in Hanoi on February 9 with the participation of nearly 1,000 Vietnamese nationals living in different countries around the world, State President Nguyen Minh Triet, President of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Pham The Duyet and other senior officials.

Speaking at the meeting,  Mr Triet briefed overseas Vietnamese on the socio-economic development situation in 2006 and reviewed the country’s important achievements during the past year.

In 2006, Vietnam achieved  a high economic growth rate of 8.2 percent while ensuring political stability, national security and defense and improving people’s material and spiritual lives. 2006 marked Vietnam’s increasing position in the international arena in the wake of its successful organisation of the 14^th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting and its entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). In addition, Vietnam was also elected as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for 2008-2009 term.

This showed the tireless efforts of the whole country as well as the 3 million overseas Vietnamese community which is an integral part of the Vietnamese nation and the great national unity bloc. It is a decisive factor in ensuring the country’s success during the past years, Mr Triet stressed.

The State President expressed appreciation for the remarkable contributions by overseas Vietnamese to national construction and development in recent times and thanked them for sharing sympathy and helping Vietnamese cope with natural disasters.

The Vietnamese State will try its best to create favorable conditions for overseas

At the meeting,  many overseas Vietnamese expressed their delight at the country’s rapid development. Pro. Dr. Nguyen Dang Hung said, “ I am very happy to attend the meeting held in the homeland after the 14^th APEC Summit was organised successfully. Vietnam is facing new opportunities and also a lot of challenges in 2007. Vietnamese overseas living far from home will do their utmost to make greater contributions to national construction and development.”