President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc talks with Overseas Vietnamese who returned home to attend the Homeland Spring programme 2022. — VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — The solidarity of the Vietnamese people has never shone so brightly during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Ambassador Lương Thanh Nghị, vice chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs (SCOV).

In an interview with Vietnam News Agency, he said the Party and State paid attention to encouraging overseas Vietnamese to uphold national identity and spread the country’s values abroad.

Every year, the SCOV organises trips to the homeland for overseas Vietnamese, particularly on important events like the death anniversary of the Hùng Kings - the legendary founder of Việt Nam, Tết, and National Day.

Among those activities, the Homeland Spring programme is the largest cultural event for the overseas Vietnamese community.

Summer camps also take place annually for young overseas Vietnamese to experience cultural and historical values as well as daily life in the homeland, Nghị noted, adding that overseas representative agencies of Việt Nam hold Tết celebrations each year.

He said the SCOV had worked with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to arrange Vietnam Day or Vietnamese Culture Week in many countries.

With regards to COVID-19, he said since the pandemic broke out, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has coordinated with agencies to repatriate Vietnamese citizens stranded abroad.

Though not all citizens could return home, thanks to efforts by Vietnamese agencies both at home and abroad, the repatriation work has been done well, showing the spirit of mutual assistance, especially the compatriotship of overseas Vietnamese.

In trying times caused by the pandemic, the Vietnamese people had demonstrated their mettle and popularised the Vietnamese values to international friends, he said.

In 2020 and 2021, Vietnamese overseas donated about VNĐ120 billion (US$5.3 million) to the COVID-19 Prevention and Control Fund and the COVID-19 Vaccine Fund, thousands of tonnes of medical supplies, and hundreds of thousands of N95 face masks.

Several Vietnamese doctors in the US and other countries voluntarily applied to join frontline forces in the homeland in the pandemic combat.

Several online forums were held for overseas Vietnamese, especially medical experts, to share their anti-pandemic experience with HCM City and other southern localities.

Nghị said that in the vaccine diplomacy campaign, many overseas Vietnamese associations along with influential Vietnamese persons in other countries assisted agencies in accessing vaccine supplies. The vaccine abundance is partly due to the help of overseas Vietnamese.

The ambassador sent the best wishes to all overseas Vietnamese and expressed his hope that they would join hands with compatriots in the homeland to realise national prosperity and happiness for all. — VNS