Overseas remittances must be prioritised as investment source: conference

The Government should offer incentives to projects funded by overseas remittances, a conference on policies related to remittances heard in HCM City on October 11-Photo thoibaonganhang.vn

Dr Nguyen Van Lich of the Diplomatic Academy of Viet Nam said while it is all very well to get inward remittances, a way must be found to use them effectively rather than merely collecting interest on them or spending them.

Projects funded by remittances must be given greater priority than those by foreign direct investment, he said.

Inward remittances in 2002-15 accounted for 6 per cent of the gross domestic product compared to 7.7 per cent and 3 per for FDI and ODA.

The remittances jumped from $140 million in 1993 to $13.2 billion last year.

Nguyen Kim Anh, deputy governor of the State Bank of Viet Nam, said remittances would keep increasing thanks to labour export and many policies designed to solicit them.

More and more Vietnamese are living and working abroad while improved services are making it easier for them repatriate money home, she said.

To attract more money from overseas Vietnamese and use it more effectively, participants suggested modernising the remittance system.

Le Xuan Sang, deputy director of the Viet Nam Economic Institute, said a system must be developed to monitor remittance sources to ensure everyone benefits and avoid money laundering.

Unofficial channels of money transfer should be stopped, he said.

Investment and tourism policies, including those related to visas for Viet kieu, should be more open, the investment environment should be made more attractive and the banking industry should improve its services and reduce rates, he said.

Some attendees called on the Ministry of Planning and Investment to set up a division that would work to attract overseas remittances and work with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to comply with policies related to remittances to attract money from overseas Vietnamese.