Hanoi (VNA) – Millions of overseas Vietnamese (OV) residing in more than 130 countries and territories across the world are an extremely importantfactor that has contributed to Vietnam’s extensive and intensive international integration, promotion ofexternal cooperation, and mobilisation of international resources serving its cause of national construction and development, Deputy Minister of ForeignAffairs Pham Quang Hieu wrote in his recent article.

The article was published ahead of Vietnam’s annual programme named "Xuan Que huong" (Homeland Spring) for expatriates returning to their homeland to celebrate the Lunar New Year Festival (Tet) – the country’s biggest and longest traditional festival. Thisyear, the programme is slated to take place on January 13 and 14.

Hieu, who is also Chairman of the State Committee forOverseas Vietnamese Affairs, wrote that the OV community is the preserver andmessenger of Vietnam's culture, as well as an important resource of brainpower for its growth.

According to the official, every year, there are about 500 Vietnameseintellectuals abroad, mainly from developed countries, actively participatingin policy making activities at home. They give consultancy and ideas reagrding industries and new development areas in Vietnam, such as science andtechnology, green economy, environment, startup, and innovation. They also workwith domestic intellectuals to form networks of scientists at national andinternational scale, which are a source of assistance for Vietnam.

Overseas Vietnamese have also contributed to the country’s concerted efforts in defendingits sovereignty and independence, especially in the East Sea, helping theinternational community and friends to better understand and support Vietnam.

In addition, over three years of global fluctuations due tothe COVID-19 pandemic, remittances sent to Vietnam still increased steadily by4-5% annually and reached 18.1 billion USD in 2021, equivalent to nearly 5% the country's GDP, helping Vietnam to become one of countries attracting the highest amount of remittances in the world.

Hieu reaffirmed that Vietnamese people at home and abroad form an impetus for realising the goal of and the aspiration for a powerful Vietnam set at the 13th National Party Congress. They are also a source of strength for the country to progress on the development path and become “comparable with powers across the five continents” as late President Ho Chi Minh wished.

In the time ahead, amid increasingly intensive and comprehensive integration into the region and the world, bringing into play the great national solidarity among domestic and overseas Vietnamese people is not only a success lesson of the past but also a matchless resource for the development of the country and OV communities.

To achieve the development goal and aspiration, it is necessary to combine the strength of the great national solidarity with the strength of the era, in which the active participation of OVs is indispensable, the official said.

Vietnam always treasures contributions by OVs and also stands side by side with them to develop united, stable, and strong communities so that they can actively contribute to host countries and the homeland, he went on.

Vietnam is holding new opportunities for breakthrough development, the Deputy Minister noted, voicing his belief that OVs will continue upholding the traditional patriotism and national solidarity to further help with national development and defence./.