Vietnam remittances top $12 bn in 2014

February 02, 2015 | 13:27

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During the course of 2014 Vietnamese citizens residing overseas remitted $12 billion, 46 per cent of which was used as investment capital with the remainder sent to relatives.

The information was revealed at a press conference on the annual Spring in the Homeland 2015 event held last Friday in Ho Chi Minh City.

Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs and chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs Vu Hong Nam said that remittances in Vietnam were estimated to grow by 10 per cent annually.

He noted that “Overseas Vietnamese citizens often send remittances to help their relatives, but now they have begun investing in businesses, making a contribution to creating employment for the country in difficult times and revitalising the domestic economy.”

Over the period from 2007 to 2013, by the magnitude of inbound money transfers, remittances are second only to foreign direct investment (FDI) capital, surpassing official development assistance (ODA), according to the Central Institute for Economic Management.

About 50 per cent of remittances arrive from the US, while Australia and Canada make up one tenth of the total with 9 per cent and 8.4 per cent respectively. Remittances from German are slightly higher than those from France, with 6 per cent and 4 per cent, respectively.

Nam noted that remittances to Ho Chi Minh City topped at $5 billion last year. The city has made efficient use of inbound payments, 71.4 per cent of which was poured into business activities and 22 per cent was invested in the local real-estate sector.

He stressed that Vietnamese people residing or working overseas had made a significant contribution to the politics, economy and society of the country. The Spring in the Homeland 2015 programme, therefore, will welcome more than 1,000 overseas Vietnamese citizens to Ho Chi Minh City on February 7 and 8 to celebrate the Lunar New Year.

By By Thanh Van

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