HCM City (VNA) – Remittances flows into Ho ChiMinh City reached 4 billion USD in the first nine months of 2020 despiteimpacts of COVID-19 pandemic, representing a rise of 2 percent over the sameperiod last year, according to a municipal official.
The figure is expected to reach 5.5 billion USD for thewhole year, up 0.82 percent year on year, said Le Thanh Liem, Vice Chairman ofthe city People’s Committee at a recent meeting with overseas Vietnameseenterprises.
Noting that in 2020, the overseas Vietnamese businesscommunity has joined hands with people at home in practical activities incombating COVID-19, maintaining trade connections and speeding up economic recovery.
HCM City, with a population of more than 10 million andmore than 350,000 enterprises, has great potential for investment, he said atthe October 27 event, adding that the city will continue to strengthen linkswith Vietnamese firms abroad, especially those in the EU, and domesticenterprises in an effort to promote trade and investment.
Vietnam is the EU’s 17th largest trading partner and thesecond-largest in Southeast Asia, while the EU is one of Vietnam’s majormarkets, he noted.
Two-way turnover reached nearly 56.5 billion last year, withVietnamese exports to the trading bloc reaching 41.5 billion USD, he added.
The official held that the European Union-Vietnam Free TradeAgreement, which took effect on August 1, will open new doors andcreate growth momentum for Vietnam’s economy and exporters.
In 2019, the city’s exports to the EU reached more than 5billion USD, a year on year rise of 5.4 percent.
Ambassador Luong Thanh Nghi, Vice Chairman of the State Committeefor Overseas Vietnamese under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that morethan 5.3 million Vietnamese were living in 130 countries andterritories. The overseas Vietnamese business community includes at least6,000 members connected to Vietnam via technology and business fields.
He spoke highly of the significant contributions made byoverseas Vietnamese businesses to the country’s socio-economic development,especially during the hard times of the pandemic.
Overseas Vietnamese have invested in 3,000 projects withtotal registered capital of more than 4 billion USD, creating many jobs,according to Nghi.
Some 500,000 - 600,000 overseas Vietnameseprofessionals are now working and studying in developed countries, whichis huge resource for the country. Every year, there are about 500 overseasVietnamese experts who return to Vietnam for investment in manyfields, he said.
The ambassador noted that about one-fifth of the 5.3 millionoverseas Vietnamese living in Europe. But the market share ofVietnamese goods in the EU is still modest compared to the potential.
In recent years, many overseas Vietnamese have returned to Vietnamto start businesses as they see great potential and good economic growth in thecountry.
Many of them have been very successful in theircareers in other countries and have now invested in businesses in Vietnam,Nghi said.
In addition to financial contributions through remittanceresources, many overseas Vietnamese experts have made important contributionsto training a high-quality workforce, and transferring scientifictechnologies to Vietnam.
He encouraged young overseas Vietnamese who have re-settledin Vietnam to build a network in the country to better exploit the potential ofthe overseas Vietnamese community for further socio-economic development.
Speaking at the event, Jean-Jacques Bouflet, Vice Presidentof the European Business Association in Vietnam (EuroCham), said to bring intofull play the potential of EVFTA, Vietnam enterprisesshould understand the EU market and business standards, andimprove product quality, traceability and reliability.
The EU is a market with high standards, so businesses mustimprove to meet technology, governance and social responsibility requirements,he said.
At the meeting, three memoranda of understanding weresigned between businesses of Vietnam and the Republic of Korea./.