Mobilizing Vietnamese intellectual resources abroad to join the combined strength of the nation

Deputy Foreign Minister Le Thi Thu Hang, Chairwoman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese (VAOV) affirmed that it is necessary to be determined and join hands to remove bottlenecks and bottlenecks in the work of mobilizing NVNONN intellectual resources to integrate into the overall strength of the nation, in order to achieve the goal of developing a prosperous and happy country as set out by the 13th National Party Congress.

The Deputy Minister gave an overview of the current situation of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals. According to estimates, of the total of nearly 6 million overseas Vietnamese intellectuals today, the number of people with university degrees or higher accounts for about 10%, equivalent to 600,000 people, including two groups: intellectuals from the country who go abroad to study and work and intellectuals who are children of generations of Vietnamese people living in the country.

Deputy Minister, Chairwoman of the State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese Le Thi Thu Hang.

In most of the key industries and fields of modern science, from electronics, biology, new materials, new energy, information technology to aviation, space, oceanography, etc., there are Vietnamese experts participating in research and work. In the process of building and developing the country, overseas Vietnamese intellectuals have made many important contributions, helping to transfer knowledge, new scientific and technological advances, mobilize international resources into Vietnam, train staff, and contribute to improving the quality of human resources in Vietnam. In particular, in recent years, overseas Vietnamese intellectuals have strengthened connections on a regional and global scale, creating flexible working and cooperation mechanisms for domestic and foreign experts when participating in projects and programs within Vietnam's national development strategy. In the context of globalization and deep international integration today, the overseas Vietnamese intellectual team is and will continue to increase in number, diversify in fields and increasingly affirm its position and status in the global knowledge environment. The young generation with creative thinking is gradually replacing the older generation, is a great driving force contributing to the host country and the home country. With a large number, working in many countries with high levels of science, technology and economics, trained in a developing, competitive environment, updated information, overseas Vietnamese experts and intellectuals are valuable assets. I believe that, in the context of science, technology and intelligence increasingly playing a key role in the development and strength of each country, mobilizing the intellectual resources of overseas Vietnamese will contribute to the development of the country, especially in the areas of science and technology, innovative startups and sustainable development. Conclusion No. 12/KL-TW dated August 2021 of the Politburo on the work of overseas Vietnamese in the new situation emphasized the need to promote the enormous resources and patriotism of our compatriots abroad towards their homeland, contributing to the implementation of the Resolution of the 13th National Party Congress, meeting the requirements of the cause of national construction and defense. So how has the work of attracting overseas Vietnamese resources been carried out in the past two years, Deputy Minister? In the past two years, since Conclusion No. 12/KL-TW was issued and actively implemented, the work on overseas Vietnamese in general, and the work of promoting overseas Vietnamese resources in particular, has been carried out synchronously, achieving very encouraging initial achievements. First of all, the awareness of the whole society about the importance of overseas Vietnamese resources serving the country's development has been constantly raised. In 2022, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs coordinated with relevant agencies to promote communication of Conclusion 12 to the entire political system and all classes of people.

Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang took a souvenir photo with delegates attending the “2nd Overseas Vietnamese Economic Forum: Connecting localities and Vietnamese - Kyushu businesses Substantial - Effective - Sustainable” in Japan.

On that basis, in 2022-2023, ministries, branches and localities organized many conferences and seminars on the topic or content of promoting overseas Vietnamese resources. The Government, central and local ministries, branches and sectors have concretized the Party's policies on overseas Vietnamese work in general and promoting overseas Vietnamese resources in particular into legal documents, programs, action plans and projects in each field. The work of connecting overseas Vietnamese resources to serve national development is increasingly focused on with diverse forms and contents, innovation and creativity with the aim of unlocking overseas Vietnamese resources for the homeland. Many seminars and seminars to solicit overseas Vietnamese opinions on development issues; forums, trade and investment promotion programs; answering and supporting overseas Vietnamese to overcome difficulties when returning to their localities for cooperation... are regularly organized. The State Committee on Overseas Vietnamese (OCV) alone has chaired and coordinated the organization of about 30 conferences and seminars, both in person and online. OV experts, intellectuals, and scientists continue to contribute ideas to the Government to remove difficulties and obstacles arising in the development process; provide effective policy advice to solve emerging issues in recent times such as clean energy, green economy, circular economy, high technology, innovation, etc. In the economic field, as of October 2022, overseas Vietnamese from 35 countries and territories have invested in 385 FDI ​​projects in 42/63 provinces and cities in Vietnam with a total registered capital of 1.72 billion USD. In addition, there is also investment capital from overseas Vietnamese returning home in other indirect forms, or in the form of domestic investment (not yet counted separately). Remittances continue to be a bright spot in the work of promoting OV resources. In 2022, according to the World Bank, the total amount of remittances to Vietnam will reach nearly 19 billion USD, and Vietnam will continue to be in the top 10 countries receiving the largest remittances in the world. The role of overseas Vietnamese in the fields of culture, tourism, trade connection, soft power, etc. is increasingly evident. Implementing the foreign policy of the 13th Party Congress, with the orientation of "building an economic diplomacy serving development, focusing on people, localities and businesses", the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has promoted the role of connecting resources of overseas Vietnamese with localities, through many outstanding events: Conference "Overseas Vietnamese experts give comments on the Planning of Quang Nam province for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050" (August 2022); Delegation of nearly 60 overseas Vietnamese businessmen from Thailand returning home to connect and explore investment cooperation opportunities in localities (July 2022); The 12th European Overseas Vietnamese Business Forum in Hungary and the 2nd Overseas Vietnamese Economic Forum in Fukuoka, Japan (September-October 2023)...

In addition to the results that have been achieved, we are also aware that the work of attracting overseas Vietnamese resources in the past has not yet fully exploited the great potential of overseas Vietnamese; the connection and maintenance of relationships between overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and businessmen and those in the country is not really solid, causing overseas Vietnamese to not fully exploit their strengths; there is a lack of feasible programs and projects to attract overseas Vietnamese experts and intellectuals to cooperate and work; remittances have not focused on investments that are suitable for the development orientation of the country as well as of industries and professions.

This comes from a number of subjective and objective reasons such as overseas Vietnamese lacking information about resources that need to be attracted; domestic policies, processes and procedures.

In some places and at some levels, administrative procedures are still cumbersome and annoying, affecting the enthusiasm of overseas Vietnamese to contribute to the country; many overseas Vietnamese are still hesitant, doubtful, and uncertain about investing and working long-term in Vietnam.

Besides, we still lack a national database on NVNONN so that ministries, localities and enterprises can exploit it together.

According to you, in the coming time, what breakthrough policies are needed to more effectively attract overseas Vietnamese resources - especially resources for key science and technology sectors, contributing to the country?

As I said above, the potential of our overseas Vietnamese in terms of human resources, material resources, and intelligence is still very large, and can be considered an external force and also an internal force promoting the country's development.

We need to truly understand the position and role of overseas Vietnamese resources in the country's development, considering that strong overseas Vietnamese also mean a strong country and vice versa.

We need to be determined and join hands to remove bottlenecks and bottlenecks in mobilizing this important resource into the combined strength of the nation, in order to achieve the goal of developing a prosperous and happy country as set out by the 13th Party Congress.

Some major groups of measures can be listed as follows:

Firstly , it is necessary to continue to improve and enhance the quality and effectiveness of the implementation of mechanisms and policies on attracting, selecting and employing overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and experts. Accordingly, it is necessary to review and provide specific guidance to remove obstacles in the implementation of regulations on encouraging overseas Vietnamese to participate in activities in all fields in Vietnam, especially in areas that need special priority for development such as science and technology; simplify administrative procedures, boldly delegate power, expand decentralization and increase autonomy for ministries, branches, localities, grassroots units... that need to use overseas Vietnamese experts and intellectuals to work.

Second , it is necessary to focus on creating a truly professional, modern, and equal working and scientific research environment, in order to recruit talented people, experts, and intellectuals from overseas Vietnamese to work long-term, contributing to improving the country's endogenous capacity in science and technology; have an investment strategy for a number of centers in priority areas, with the role of a focal point connecting with excellent research centers in the world and being a driving force to improve the country's science and technology.

Deputy Minister Le Thi Thu Hang received Professor Tran Thanh Van and his wife, Professor Le Kim Ngoc.

Third , each locality, ministry and sector needs to base on their characteristics and practical needs to develop flexible strategies and policies to make appropriate use of talented human resources; have policies to effectively use skilled workers who have studied in developed countries; boldly trust and create opportunities for young talents and excellent graduates returning from other countries.

In addition, it is necessary to invest financial resources in developing and implementing plans and projects to attract overseas Vietnamese resources, including: building a database of overseas Vietnamese experts and intellectuals; supporting overseas Vietnamese experts and intellectuals to return to work in the country; establishing a number of centers of excellence according to international standards; providing preferential credit loans when overseas Vietnamese establish businesses in the fields of high technology and innovation in Vietnam.

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