Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm and his wife Ngô Phương Ly at the meeting with staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and representatives of the Vietnamese community, businesses, and professionals in Manila. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm has reaffirmed that the Party and State consistently pay close attention to overseas Vietnamese communities through timely policies aimed at supporting their legal status, helping them build stable lives, integrate into local societies, and contribute meaningfully to national development.

He was speaking on Sunday during a meeting with staff of the Vietnamese Embassy and representatives of the Vietnamese community, businesses and professionals in Manila as part of his State visit to the Philippines until June 1. The visit comes at the invitation of President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. 

At the event, Vietnamese Ambassador to the Philippines Lại Thái Bình highlighted the significance of the visit by the Vietnamese top leader and high-ranking delegation, which coincides with the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. He noted that this is the first official meeting between the top leaders of Việt Nam and the Philippines.

The ambassador said that the Vietnamese community in the Philippines remains united and hardworking, while playing an increasingly active role in trade, education and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries.

Community members continue to maintain the Vietnamese language and cultural identity, stay closely connected to their homeland and actively seek opportunities to contribute to the country's development through networking activities and support for businesses exploring bilateral cooperation opportunities.

Representatives of the Vietnamese community expressed their delight at Việt Nam’s remarkable achievements in reform and development and voiced their desire to contribute through their professional expertise, personal credibility and professional positions in various sectors.

They also expressed hope that stronger bilateral cooperation would help create a more favourable policy environment for businesses, particularly Vietnamese enterprises operating in the Philippines.

Party General Secretary and State President Tô Lâm speaks at the meeting. VNA/VNS Photo

Commending the Vietnamese community's efforts to integrate into local society while preserving national cultural values, Party leader Tô Lâm also praised its contributions to promoting economic and trade relations between the two countries.

He welcomed the role played by the Liaison Committee of the Vietnamese Community in the Philippines in connecting and supporting overseas Vietnamese.

The top leader shared the country's development orientations and socio-economic policies aimed at sustaining high economic growth, strengthening national self-reliance and continuously improving people's living standards.

He also briefed participants on key outcomes of his recent visits to Thailand and Singapore. In particular, he noted that Việt Nam’s keynote address at the 23rd Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on May 29 had attracted significant international attention and underscored the country's growing role and influence in the region.

Regarding Việt Nam–Philippines relations, the top leader stressed that Việt Nam is currently the Philippines' only strategic partner in Southeast Asia. Bilateral ties have developed strongly across a wide range of sectors, and both countries are working to boost two-way trade with the goal of reaching US$10 billion in the near future and unlocking further cooperation potential.

He reaffirmed that overseas Vietnamese are an inseparable part of the Vietnamese nation and an important resource for national development. In recent years, a number of policies have been revised to facilitate overseas Vietnamese investment, study, research, entrepreneurship, Vietnamese-language teaching, knowledge transfer, and participation in cultural and people-to-people diplomacy activities.

The top leader expressed his hope that the Vietnamese community in the Philippines would continue to stay united, support one another, comply with local laws, actively participate in community activities, make practical contributions to the homeland, and further strengthen friendship between the two countries.

He also urged the Vietnamese Embassy in the Philippines to further improve its work with overseas Vietnamese, maintain regular engagement with the community, strengthen ties between expatriates and the homeland, encourage compliance with local laws, enhance citizen protection efforts, and actively support community activities. — VNS