Up to 900 overseas Vietnamese from 101 countries and territories will participate in Vietnam’s first Overseas Vietnamese Conference from November 21-31, deputy head of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Tran Trong Toan told reporters on November 10.

The conference themed “For a united and strong community to contribute actively to national construction” will be an open forum for overseas Vietnamese and local senior officials to discuss issues of common interests and share experiences, contributing to national construction and development. It will be also a symbol of reconciliation and great national unity.

Delegates to the event are scheduled to centre their discussions on building up a strong overseas Vietnamese community, bringing into play national cultural identities, and creating more favourable conditions for overseas Vietnamese, especially intellectuals and businesspeople to make greater contribution to the fatherland.

Among some three million overseas Vietnamese residing in more than 100 countries and territories, 10% have university degrees or higher, and around 70% still retain Vietnamese citizenship, according to Tran Du Lich, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Economic Research.

Overseas Vietnamese invested in over 3,000 projects worth nearly $2 billion in Vietnam by the end of 2008, according to the committee under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Remittances sent to Vietnam reached $8 billion in 2008, up 19.4% against 2007.

(The Vietnam Nation)