Vietnam should have more open and supportive policies to further increase remittances used for country's development.
The issue was discussed at the conference on September 29.
According to Nguyen Mai, chairman of Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises, about 5% of Vietnamese nationals live overseas and this huge number puts Vietnam among the top remittance receiving countries.
From 1991 to 2014, over USD92bn in remittances were sent to Vietnam, not to mention USD10bn in FDI by overseas Vietnamese. The amount of money sent into Vietnam is as high as the net foreign direct investment funding of USD100bn.
However, Mai said the remittances hadn't been widely invested. Statistics from the World Bank show that 50% of remittances were used for consumer spending. A large part of the remittances was used to repay debts and only a few people used the money to invest.
Vietnam among the top remittance receiving countries
Pham Van Hung from the National Economics University said the government should have better policies for overseas Vietnamese as they are accounted for over 80% of the remittances, while Vietnamese citizens living abroad only accounted for 7%. Overseas Vietnamese often send the money to their families and relatives.
Nguyen Mai said, "We need to look at this from a new perspective, so Vietnamese people living overseas can easily return to Vietnam to travel or do business. The government can do a survey to see whether Vietnamese living overseas are interested in this."
He went on to say the government should also have more policies to people who want to settle overseas. They can encourage labour movement within the ASEAN community. For example, China encouraged studying and finding work abroad and successfully encouraged people to return home.
Mai emphasised the importance of remittances in a situation where public debt is reaching a record high and preferential ODA loans for Vietnam will soon end.
Meanwhile, Le Thanh Binh, president of the Vietnamese People Association in Poland, said the actual remittances sent to Vietnam were even higher than reported. He said the government should care more about companies owned by overseas Vietnamese in Vietnam. "Effective measures must be implemented to make the transfer of remittances easier," he said.
Tu Nhu Phong, director of Vietinbank Global Money Transfer Company said they had to follow anti-money laundering or terrorist activities procedures so the amount of money was limited. Being unable to send large amounts of money through official channels meant some people were reluctant to send big banknotes to Vietnam.
