At the international conference entitled the “Socio-economic impacts of emigration,” specialists from the Vietnam Asia-Pacific Economic Centre (VAPEC) also urged the Vietnamese government to increase ties with official financial institutions to facilitate the flow of remittances.

The current policies, they said, are not effective enough in optimizing all the resources that Vietnamese emigrants overseas can bring to national development.

Emigration became common in Vietnam after the end of the US war. Statistics show that around 5 percent of families nationwide have one or more members who have migrated, mainly to the US, Taiwan, the Republic of Korea , Malaysia and Russia .

Economic studies have shown that emigration and remittances have a very positive impact on the incomes and living standards of families. There is even evidence that they have helped improve income equality in Vietnam.

The experts also urged government agencies, local authorities and community-based organizations to work hand in hand to improve public awareness about opportunities and risks concerning international emigration through training and communication activities.