Hanoi (VNA) - The number of Oversea Vietnamese(OV) returning home to invest and run business have risen amidst the increasinginternational integration of Vietnam, contributing to the national development,stated Luong Thanh Nghi, deputy head of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs.

In an interview with the Vietnam News Agency, Nghi notedthat by the end of 2018, Vietnam hosted about 3,000 projects invested by OVs in45 cities and provinces, with total investment of nearly 4 billion USD.

Statistics from the World Bank showed that in 2018, OVs senthome 15.9 billion USD, about 60 percent of which was poured into business andproduction, he said.

Nghi said that during the year, the country saw the returnof a large number of intellectuals and scientists, especially young ones.

A number of activities were held to lure OVs’ engagement inbusiness and research at home, including a forum to connect Vietnamese startupsin June 2018, gathering a large number of startup firms at home and abroad.

An initiative on Vietnam innovative network was launched inthe year with the participation of more than 100 young Vietnamese scientistsaround the world who gave many ideas and strategies for Vietnam to successfullybuild the development strategy for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in thefuture, he said.

About 250 initiatives and proposals were given at the first Vietnamese Young Intellectual Forum in Da Nang inNovember 2018. Meanwhile, more than 200 OVs from 23 countries and territoriesgathered at a conference in late 2018, contributing many ideas for localitiesto improve their investment and business environment, promoting theirpotentials in economy and tourism, stated Nghi. The event was followed with thesigning of many cooperation agreements, he said, adding that an OV from Germanyreceived a licence to build a 10 million USD factory in Ha Tinh province.

Nghi underscored that to further promote brainpowerresources from the 4.5 million-strong Vietnamese community abroad, it isnecessary to make changes in policy to attract expat scientists.

It is estimated that about 500,000 OVs are working inresearch institutes abroad, with 300 of them regularly cooperating withorganizations and localities at home, he noted, pointing to the need tooptimize their potential by creating a flexible environment for them to makemore contributions.

Nghi said that in the coming time, the State Committee for OverseasVietnamese Affairs will coordinate with the Vietnamese communities in differentcountries to seek proper measures to strengthen connectivity activities.

Meanwhile, the committee willsupport the Vietnamese associations abroad in line with local law, he said.-VNA