He said in the recent past, the Vietnamese community in the US has contributed a lot to the improvement of Viet Nam-US relations. In different ways, they have actively lobbied the US Government to lift the embargo against Viet Nam, supported the normalisation of Viet Nam-US ties, and the signing of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA).

Many of them work as legal and policy consultants or directly invest and cooperate in businesses and scientific research. They also serve as a bridge for US economic and science  research organisations to work with Vietnamese partners and vice versa.

So far, more than 400 businesses of overseas Vietnamese in the US have been registered with Viet Nam's Domestic Investment Encouragement Law with a total capital of 750 billion VND (47 million USD). There are also 20 projects in line with the Foreign Investment Law with a total capital of about 85 million USD.

The foreign exchange remittance by overseas Vietnamese in the US has made up 65-70 per cent of the total foreign exchange remittance of overseas Vietnamese. Overseas Vietnamese in the US have also accounted for nearly half of overseas Vietnamese' visits to Viet Nam. Last year, 209,826 overseas Vietnamese from the US visited Viet Nam, while the total visits by overseas Vietnamese in the period were 426,780.

The party and the government consider the overseas Vietnamese community an intergrated part of and invaluable resource for the Vietnamese national community. Since 2004, the issuance of Resolution 36/NQ-TW of the Party Politburo toward overseas Vietnamese has had a large impact on both communities. At the same time, many policies and measures are being reviewed and adjusted to create better conditions for overseas Vietnamese, particularly for intellectuals and businesspeople to return and cooperate with domestic partners.

In February 2003, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs set up a fund for assisting and petitioning overseas Vietnamese. After two years of operation, the fund has realised many positive outcomes which have contributed to the government's policy of assisting and encouraging overseas Vietnamese to help build the country.

The Foreign Ministry's Committee of Overseas Vietnamese has coordinated with the Viet Nam Chamber of Commerce and Industry to carry out numerous activities to boost cooperation between overseas Vietnamese and domestic businesses, and simultaneously link overseas Vietnamese businesses in the US and other countries.

The Ministries of Construction, Planning and Investment, and Justice are drafting and adjusting some new resolutions on issues of land-use rights and investment. The Foreign Ministry is working on a scheme to encourage overseas Vietnamese intellectuals to return and work in Viet Nam.

Currently, there are about 1.3 million Vietnamese residing in America, making up nearly half of the Vietnamese community abroad. Of these, about 70 per cent have long-term residence permits.

Although it is a newly formed community and its economic power remains low, Vietnamese have been recognised as rapidly integrating into US society and having high potential, especially in the areas of education, science and technology.