Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính meets a delegation of overseas Vietnamese (OV) on Saturday. – VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Prime Minister Phạm Minh Chính on Saturday hosted a reception for a delegation of overseas Vietnamese (OV) who are now in Việt Nam for the "Xuân Quê hương" (Homeland Spring) 2023, during which he called for their engagement in the Government’s efforts to bring Việt Nam closer to the world.

The leader highly valued the ideas of OVs and their aspirations to make contributions to the homeland, which manifests the beautiful tradition and the spirit of the great national solidarity bloc, especially amid difficulties.

Briefing the OVs on the country’s development, he underlined that Việt Nam is building a rule-based socialist country, socialist democracy and socialist-oriented market economy.

In the process, Việt Nam takes people as the centre, the subject, motivation and goal of development, he stated.

He hailed and thanked the efforts and contributions of 5.3 million-strong Vietnamese community abroad over the years, contributing to the overall development achievements of the country.

Aurélia Nguyen, Chief Programme Strategy Officer at the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) and former Managing Director of COVAX Facility, said she is proud to be Vietnamese. She said that Việt Nam’s success in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic has shown the world the success of a massive vaccination campaign.

Highlighting the success of the vaccination campaign, PM Chính said that it enabled Việt Nam to fully open its economy in late 2021 and gain many achievements in 2022 across all fields.

Last year, when the pandemic was still developing, the PM mentioned a high determination to make the way home shorter for all Vietnamese people abroad. This year, after the target was fulfilled, the Government is striving to bring Việt Nam closer to the world and the world closer to Việt Nam, stated the PM.

To this end, it is necessary to continue to effectively implement policies and orientations of the Party and State, he said.

He pointed to the need to educate younger generations on the history, culture and tradition of Viet Nam, especially the Vietnamese language, while strengthening the promotion of the image of the Vietnamese nation and people, increasing the export of Vietnamese products, and boosting tourism.

The Government leader called for the engagement of the OV community in the efforts.

Taking the Vietnamese community abroad as an integral part of the nation, the Party and State have always paid attention to, created optimal conditions for, and supported OVs to settle down, integrate into the host society, maintain a close relationship with the homeland and actively participate in the construction and development of the country, he stated.

He said he believes that Vietnamese people, both inside and outside the country, will continue to strongly develop the solidarity tradition and work together in realising the country’s development targets, including the goal of bringing Viet Nam closer to the world and getting the world closer to Việt Nam.

The Government understands the goodwill and aspirations of the OV community, and will absorb their ideas and respond to their requests, he pledged.

The PM wished the OV community a New Year of good health, happiness and success. — VNS