Vietnam is the destination of choice

Vietnam is continuously appreciated by foreigners for its landscape and favorable living costs, and the number of overseas Vietnamese wanting to return to invest and live is also increasing.

Aspiration to contribute to the homeland

Yesterday, August 30, while at Da Nang airport preparing to fly to Phu Quoc, Ms. Cecile Le Pham (French nationality) - General Director of Dacotex Group - boasted that she had just received a certificate of merit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for her social activities and practical connections. She said she was even happier when the visa for foreigners staying in Vietnam was extended to 45 days. Previously, at the end of April, the 5th private museum in Hue named Cecile Le Pham Fine Arts Museum was also officially opened. Ms. Cecile Le Pham shared that in 1992, after nearly 20 years away from her homeland, in her role as Vice President of the Association for the Protection of Vietnamese Children in France (ACSOC), she brought a volunteer group of French doctors and French-Vietnamese doctors back to Vietnam to examine and treat poor children in remote areas. From there, she had a relationship with her mother's homeland. Over the past 30 years, she established ACSOC in Vietnam, financially sponsored the construction of many orphanages in the Central and Southern regions; co-founded and invested in establishing Dacotex Group in Da Nang, specializing in garment exports to France, Brazil, Mexico. Then she expanded her investment to Hue, Quy Nhon... with 4 factories, creating more than 3,000 jobs for young people in these 3 localities. She said simply: "Young people in the Central countryside grow up and go to the South to start a business, unskilled and skilled workers all go abroad to work because there is nothing to do in their hometowns. When investors flocked to potential lands to open factories, I quietly went to Da Nang, Quang Nam, Hue, Quy Nhon... to build factories. I longed and wanted to create more jobs, so that young people could start a business right in their hometowns, and in the evening come home to have dinner with their parents...".

More and more foreigners and overseas Vietnamese choose Vietnam as a long-term destination.

Nhat Thinh

Returning to Vietnam earlier and currently a senior consultant for many World Bank (WB) projects in Asia - Pacific, Professor Ha Ton Vinh, an overseas Vietnamese in the US, Chairman of the Board of Directors and General Director of Stellar Management Education and Training Group, used to have a business company in the US and West Africa, but only a few years after the US lifted the embargo on Vietnam, he gave up everything to return home with a brief explanation: "Returning home, first of all for myself, I can do what I like, share my experience and knowledge at a time when the country needs it, the economy is integrated and open". After his initial period of working as a business management consultant, he was considered a person who inspired passion and aspiration for success for the first generation of CEOs in Vietnam. "Everywhere I go, I meet Vietnamese people living in other countries. They say they want to return to visit their homeland, settle down in their hometown, or invest in the village or city where they were born and raised. However, they are worried about how to start. The time to return is limited, the distance is far, and because of limited experience, they need a bridge, a consulting organization to support their above-mentioned needs. In my opinion, there needs to be a more practical support organization," said Professor Vinh.

In fact, many overseas Vietnamese businessmen and intellectuals have returned to the country and succeeded in their homeland. Among them, we must mention Dr. Nguyen Thanh My, an overseas Vietnamese in the US who has established 8 companies in the high-tech sector, of which 6 are operating successfully in Tra Vinh; businessman Nguyen Ngoc My - an overseas Vietnamese in Australia - Chairman of the Board of Directors of Vabis Group and more than 15 companies headquartered in Vietnam, Laos and Australia...

Vietnam is chosen by many foreigners and overseas Vietnamese to settle down.

Nhat Thinh

Popular with foreigners

Not only do overseas Vietnamese want to return to their homeland to live and work, many foreigners also highly appreciate the country and people of Vietnam. Specifically, according to the ranking of 53 countries/territories that foreigners want to settle in the most recently announced by InterNations - Global Network of Expats, Vietnam ranked 14th in the list of countries that foreigners want to settle in the most with many highly scored categories such as work and entertainment ranked 6th; finding friends ranked 11th; friendliness also ranked 11th; ease of settling in ranked 14th; salary ranked 18th...

In particular, Vietnam is considered a livable place with affordable prices. In the "personal finance" index, Vietnam is the country leading the list. This index is based on 3 factors, including: satisfaction with the financial situation, general living expenses, and whether the income of the survey participants is enough to live comfortably. 77% of respondents rated the cost of living at a favorable level, while the global average is 44%. In addition, Vietnam is among the group of Asian countries that foreigners rate the highest in the "security" index. However, there are still some categories where Vietnam is ranked lower, such as poor environment at 50th (the general situation of Southeast Asian countries), health care at 40th, or transportation at 44th... This is the 10th consecutive year that InterNations has conducted a survey to create this list. Nearly 12,000 people from 177 nationalities and living in 181 countries or territories participated in the survey. The ranking report is the result of an analysis based on factors that affect a person's life abroad such as living costs, quality of living environment, job opportunities, ease of settlement, personal finances, etc.

71% of Vietnamese people abroad consider the possibility of returning home

A new survey by the Robert Walters Recruitment Consulting Group shows that 71% of overseas Vietnamese are actively considering returning to their homeland to live and work within the next 5 years. This rate is higher than that of the other 3 countries in the Southeast Asian region that were also surveyed, including Indonesia (60%), the Philippines (62%) and Singapore (58%). Up to 66% of survey participants said they believe in the stability and development of the Vietnamese economy. In addition, the ratio between high salaries and low living costs is also an attractive factor for 44% of survey respondents. Accordingly, returning to their homeland will help them have a more comfortable and quality life. In addition to economic reasons, the survey also shows that there are many other key factors that increase the desire of overseas Vietnamese to return to their homeland. Specifically, 62% of respondents said that the emotional, social and cultural connection with Vietnam urged them to return home, an increase of 13% compared to the 2021 survey. In addition, 40% also said they wanted to return home to conveniently care for and be closer to family and relatives in Vietnam...

Particularly for foreign tourists, Vietnam is always chosen as a favorite destination. According to the ranking of the friendliest countries in the world in 2021 on the World Population Review website, Vietnam ranks 9th in the 10 most foreign-friendly countries in the world. With hospitality and friendliness, foreigners will easily make friends with local people and live in Vietnam for a long time. The political situation in Vietnam is also stable, there is no terrorism, security is relatively guaranteed, tourists can rest assured when visiting, traveling and living without much worry...

Financial expert Nguyen Tri Hieu is also one of the overseas Vietnamese who have returned to work in Vietnam over the past 13 years. According to him, the above ratings of Vietnam by foreigners are quite high. Stable macro-economy and security have always been highly appreciated by foreigners and overseas Vietnamese returning to the country. During his time in Vietnam, he himself witnessed many drastic changes. That is, the expanded infrastructure and more high-rise buildings have made many cities modern; the quality of life of the people has increased as the number of poor people and beggars has decreased sharply. Besides, food and drink are abundant and services are much better than when he first returned to Vietnam.

Promoting the attraction of overseas Vietnamese resources

Since 1980, Vietnam has received a large amount of foreign currency from overseas Vietnamese. The amount of remittances sent to Vietnam has increased from 35 million USD (in 1991) to 1.75 billion USD (in 2000) and by 2022, according to a report by the World Bank and the Organization for International Cooperation on Migration (KNOMAD), the total amount of remittances sent to Vietnam reached nearly 19 billion USD. Vietnam is one of the 10 countries receiving the most remittances in the world. Besides foreign direct investment (FDI), experts all believe that remittances are a "golden resource" for the country's socio-economic development as well as contributing to improving the quality of people's lives. Compared with official development assistance (ODA) or foreign indirect investment, remittances to Vietnam always have a larger value and are more stable.

According to Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet, Deputy Director of the Institute for Economic and Policy Research (University of Economics, Vietnam National University, Hanoi), over the past 10 years, Vietnam's economy has always maintained stability with a high growth rate. Many foreigners and multinational corporations have invested in Vietnam and achieved many successes. Since then, a large proportion of foreigners have chosen Vietnam as a long-term residence. At the same time, the cost of living in Vietnam is also quite stable. Not to mention the landscape of Vietnam with many beautiful hills and beaches, attracting both overseas Vietnamese and foreigners. In particular, the culture and people are always friendly to foreigners and overseas Vietnamese, which is also an attractive feature of Vietnam. These conditions will help attract more FDI capital flows, which are showing signs of increasing again. "Many large corporations in Vietnam have developed strongly, also originating from overseas Vietnamese returning to invest in business. Therefore, with the overseas Vietnamese force, it is not only necessary to increase incentive policies and attract remittances, but also focus on attracting human resources to contribute to promoting production and developing science and technology. This will be a great resource to contribute to promoting the development of Vietnam's economy," said Dr. Nguyen Quoc Viet.

Need more flexible policies

NVCC

The world has changed a lot after the pandemic, we have made great efforts to change policies to help recover quickly. However, through observation and reality, the changes are still one step behind the needs. Somewhere, some sub-licenses and strict regulations have been formed since the days of fighting the pandemic, which are still maintained and applied, making it more difficult for businesses and social organizations. For example, renewing the operating license of a charity organization that has been operating for 30 years is now more difficult and complicated, although funding for medicine and medical equipment for remote areas is still the same as before. Second, bank interest rates are a long story. In the most difficult times, I wanted to borrow at a good interest rate to pay workers' salaries even though they were unemployed, and wanted to retain workers, so that when there were orders, they would still stick with me. However, the high loan interest rate is not only a given, but accessing loans is extremely difficult. Financial policies need to be more open, overseas Vietnamese bring foreign currency to build factories, import raw materials for production, but in the process of production and business activities still encounter many difficulties. During the process of operation, when running out of cash to serve monthly expenses, should the bank lend in these cases. In general, policies need to be more flexible and less rigid procedures. Ms. Cecile Le Pham - General Director of Dacotex Group

Agreeing, expert Nguyen Tri Hieu said that although there have been many positive changes, there are still some factors that can discourage overseas Vietnamese or foreigners when they first come to Vietnam. For example, the attitude of some officials and employees at agencies that overseas Vietnamese have to contact for the first time is not enthusiastic and friendly. Documents and administrative procedures are still difficult and complicated, and the time to process documents is also long... Therefore, many overseas Vietnamese who want to return to the country to invest and live are discouraged on the first trip. Mr. Hieu emphasized that overseas Vietnamese do not expect to receive more preferential treatment than domestic enterprises, but they expect to be treated fairly and transparently when living and working in Vietnam. Regarding attracting FDI capital in general, he suggested that we should consider shortening the investment licensing process and shortening the processing time compared to the present. From there, combined with the positive aspects of Vietnam that have been recognized by foreigners, it will truly create a more attractive attraction.

Thanhnien.vn