State President Lương Cường and his wife on Sunday joined overseas Vietnamese in a traditional ritual releasing carp for “Ông Công, Ông Táo” (Land Genie and Kitchen Gods) at Uncle Hồ’s fish pond in the Presidential Palace Relic Site. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI — Over 1,000 overseas Vietnamese (OVs) are attending the “Xuân Quê Huơng” (Homeland Spring) programme 2025 from Saturday to Monday in Hà Nội under the theme "Việt Nam - Rising in a New Era".

The programme is co-sponsored by the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Hà Nội People's Committee.

It demonstrates the sentiments and responsibilities of the Party and State in caring for the OVs community, promoting patriotism and encouraging OVs to preserve the cultural identity, traditions and language of the nation.

State President Lương Cường and his wife, along with representatives from central agencies and Hà Nội authorities and nearly 100 OVs delegates, offered incense at the Kính Thiên Palace in Thăng Long Imperial Citadel in Hà Nội on Sunday morning.

They expressed their sincere prayers for national peace and prosperity, and for the country to enter the new year with more breakthrough successes on the path of development.

Cường and his wife also joined overseas Vietnamese in a traditional ritual of releasing carp at Uncle Hồ’s fish pond in the Presidential Palace Relic Site for Ông Công, Ông Táo (Land Genie and Kitchen God).

The event took place just a few days before the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, the day to send the Kitchen God to heaven, implying “the carp jumps over the gate to become dragon", symbolising perseverance and endurance towards development and success.

President Cường delivered his thankfulness to the Vietnamese community around the world for always turning their hearts towards their homeland. He wished all OVs a new year of peace, prosperity and success.

Meeting with nearly 100 outstanding OVs attending the Homeland Spring programme on Sunday afternoon, Party General Secretary Tô Lâm spoke highly of the contributions of OVs to the homeland.

He expressed pride in witnessing the OVs community growing rapidly in both number and quality, and the associations of OV businesspeople, experts and intellectuals regularly hosting activities to connect with the country, forming a widespread network to link Vietnamese people at home and abroad.

The Party chief informed the OVs about Việt Nam’s socio-economic developments in 2024, noting that the goal of "the era of the nation’s rise" is to build a strong country with wealthy citizens and a socialist society on par with the world's powers. All Vietnamese people as a whole, under the leadership of the Party, will unite and work together to make the most of opportunities and advantages and push back against risks and challenges, prompting the country to develop rapidly.

He confirmed that the Party and State highly valued the contributions of the Vietnamese community around the world to national development. The Politburo recently issued Resolution 57-NQ/TW dated December 22, 2024 on breakthroughs in science, technology, innovation and the national digital transformation. It puts forward major policies in attracting talent and developing a network of experts and scientists at home and abroad to contribute their enthusiasm and intelligence to key projects serving national development.

The OV delegates expressed their wish to actively engage in realising the country's aspirations for national development in the new era.

Meeting with the 100 outstanding OVs the same day, the Vietnam Fatherland Front (VFF)'s Đỗ Văn Chiến reiterated that the OVs community was an inseparable part of the country and the great national unity bloc.

Representatives of the OVs community expressed their respect and gratitude to the leaders of the Party, the State and the VFF for their affection and for creating conditions for OVs around the world to have the opportunity to engage in domestic activities.

They confirmed that OVs always turned towards the Fatherland and remained ready to make every effort for the growth of the OVs community and for the prosperity of the homeland.

The community also welcomed the National Assembly's passing of the 2024 Land Law, which allows Vietnamese people residing abroad but without Vietnamese nationality to enjoy full rights related to land and housing, just like citizens within the country.

At the meeting, a number of OVs shared their thoughts and aspirations and expressed their opinions on promoting national solidarity.

Venerable Thích Đức Tuấn, an OVs in the US, proposed establishing an official Vietnamese radio station and building a Vietnamese temple in the US to develop the Vietnamese culture and language there.

Nguyễn Thị Liên, president of the Vietnamese Language Club in Malaysia, shared experiences of teaching and learning Vietnamese in Malaysia.

She said that thanks to the efforts of teachers, the community and the club’s members, the club had not only been a place to pass on the mother tongue to generations of Vietnamese people born and raised in Malaysia, but had also introduced and preserved traditional culture and nurtured Vietnamese identity.

The support of the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia and the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese as well as the attention of the Party and State would continue to be a motivation for the Vietnamese community and especially the Vietnamese language club in Malaysia to work even harder in the future, she said. VNS