Greater efforts to be made to foster connections with Vietnamese community abroad
“Xuan Que Huong” (Homeland Spring) Programme 2022, the biggest annual event held for overseas Vietnamese (OV) on the occasion of the Lunar New Year Festival, will be held on January 22, or the 20th day of the last lunar month of the Year of the Buffalo.
Speaking to Vietnam News Agency, Deputy Foreign Minister Pham Quang Hieu, who is head of the State Committee for OV Affairs, said that the programme will be the largest political, external relations and cultural event to be held in the beginning of 2022, aiming to foster link between OVs and their fellows at home.
This is also a chance for Party and State leaders to listen to aspirations of the Vietnamese community abroad and honour collectives and individuals that make great contributions to the homeland, he said
Hieu said that the programme will feature diverse activities, including incense offering to national ancestors, carp releasing, tribute paying to President Ho Chi Minh and heroic martyrs, meetings with Party, State and Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF) leaders, and art performances. State President Nguyen Xuan Phuc will take the podium during the programme to extend New Year wishes to OVs.
According to Deputy FM Hieu, the Vietnamese community abroad has shown good integration into the host society in all fields and become an important resource for the national development.
Last year, despite COVID-19 impacts, the amount of remittances to Vietnam rose 10 percent over the previous year, getting closer to a new record of US$20 billion. Meanwhile, Vietnamese intellectuals abroad have actively contributed their brainpower to many important areas of the country.
Hieu underlined that amid COVID-19 pandemic, the Vietnamese community abroad has actively responded to the call of the Party, State and VFF leaders for support in pandemic fight. In 2020-2021, the community donated about VND115 billion (US$5.05 million) as well as a lot of medical supplies to the homeland.
The Deputy FM said that in 2022, the OV affair activities will focus on two major objectives of fostering the great national solidarity and promoting resources from the OV community for national development.
To this end, seven key tasks have been given, including the implementation of a series of action plans such as the Government’s action plan on OV affairs in 2021-2026 period.
More activities will be conducted to optimise resources from the Vietnamese community abroad for national development, support the community to strengthen their legal status, expand the teaching of the Vietnamese language, increase the supply of information to the community, and improve the capacity of officials in charge of OV affairs, stated Hieu.
