(VNA): Vice State President Truong My Hoa praised overseas Vietnamese's deep attachment to their home country as well as their active contributions to the national development at a meeting with overseas Vietnamese representatives returning home for the Lunar New Year festival (Tet) in Hanoi on February 4.

The meeting was jointly arranged by the Foreign Ministry's Committee for overseas Vietnamese, the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, and the Hanoi People's Committee.

Vice President Hoa described overseas Vietnamese communities as an inseparable part of the Vietnamese nation, a constituent of Vietnam's strength, and a bridge linking Vietnam with their countries of residence.

On behalf of the overseas Vietnamese present at the function, Luu Thanh Dung, Vice Chairman of the Committee for the Vietnamese Community in France, said that overseas Vietnamese will always, to the best of their ability, show their solidarity with the nation and continue to make active and useful contributions to national construction.

Speaking on the sidelines of the meeting with Vietnam News Agency reporters, Nguyen Duc Thanh, an overseas Vietnamese from the UK, said that he was happy to return and welcome in the traditional Tet at home. "Having visited some domestic production and business establishments, I am eager to introduce their products on the British market, and utilise my knowledge and experience to do so."

Dao Thi Minh, a Vietnamese in Japan, said it was exciting and moving for her to celebrate Tet at home. "We are working with a domestic company to supply plant seeds. We hope to see more policies from the Government in support of agricultural development, particularly in regard to capital, equipment and research institutions. We have plans to transfer plant seed technology to farmers in Vietnam in collaboration with some Japanese companies. Minh said she was delighted to see that the Party and the Government have issued a range of policies to attract foreign investment, adding that more favourable conditions should be created so that overseas Vietnamese can receive the same treatment as their domestic counterparts.

There are currently an estimated 2.7 million Vietnamese living and studying in 90 countries and territories. Overseas Vietnamese have invested in 74 projects capitalised at a total of US $540 million at home. They have also established in the country 1,200 companies with a combined registered capital of VND 2,500 billion.

Last year, overseas Vietnamese remitted an estimated US $3.2 billion to their homeland, an increase of US $600 million over the previous year./.