HCM CITY  — Great efforts have been made to mobilise potential from Việt Kiều (Overseas Vietnamese) communities around the world, but few results have been achieved, according to experts speaking at a meeting with representatives of Overseas Vietnamese communities in HCM City on Thursday.

Peter Hồng, deputy chairman of the Overseas Vietnamese Businesspeople Association, said talented, successful people who have studied abroad should deal with Overseas Vietnamese communities.

Dr Lương Bạch Vân, chairwoman of the Overseas Vietnamese Association of HCM City, said that local agencies should care more about students of Vietnamese origin in these countries who were born abroad and do not have Vietnamese nationality.

Vân said that many overseas families value and preserve Vietnamese cultural and traditional characteristics.

Prof. Đặng Lương Mô, an Overseas Vietnamese from Japan, said he was ready to help the city to establish a “bank of talented Overseas Vietnamese” who would promote and exploit the potential of the Overseas Vietnamese communities in all areas of life.

The chairman of HCM City Association of Overseas Vietnamese, Phùng Công Dũng, said the association had contacted young Overseas Vietnamese who have re-settled in Việt Nam in order to build a network, with an aim to better exploit the potential of the community for the development of HCM City and Việt Nam.

He said the association has a plan to organise a conference to connect the intellectual circles of Overseas Vietnamese communities with universities in Việt Nam to promote research in teaching and learning.

The association has been preparing a ‘startup forum’ for members of the communities from home and abroad to link young members who have ideas, projects, and models to be proposed to HCM City authorities.

The deputy chairman of the Overseas Vietnamese Businesspeople Association, Peter Hồng, said the association has faced challenges trying to connect with members.

Hồnd said the association’s representatives had received a list of 1,176 enterprises invested in by Overseas Vietnamese in HCM City.

The association has telephoned, sent emails and faxes to all of them, but has received replies from only 13 of them.

There are more than 6,100 enterprises run by members of Overseas Vietnamese communities, but the association has found it difficult to connect with them, said Hồng.

He said the association should build a database for its members, including older members who have made contributions to the association and to their homeland, and young members as well. — VNS