Individual and collective members of the HCM City Committee for Overseas Vietnamese receive certificates of merit from the city People’s Committee for their contributions at a conference on July 12. — VNS Photo Ngọc Diệp

HCM CITY — The HCM City Committee for Overseas Vietnamese has reviewed its performance in the first six months of this year and announced plans for the rest of the year.

At the review conference held in the city last Friday, Trần Đức Hiển, its deputy chairman, said overseas Vietnamese had been making increasing contributions to the city’s socio-economic development.

The committee had launched many practical activities to boost investment by overseas Vietnamese in the city and trade with them, he said.

“Many obstacles and difficulties [related to investment] have been promptly addressed to safeguard their rights.”

Many conferences and meetings were organised to inform overseas Vietnamese about policies related to investment, doing business and immigration, he said.

The conference heard that overseas Vietnamese had been doing charity in the country.

A Vietnamese-American gifted more than 1,300 books worth VNĐ3.4 billion (US$146,300) to the HCM City University of Technology library.

The committee offered free medical treatment, medicines and gifts to 500 disadvantaged ethnic Vietnamese living in Cambodia.

In the first six months of this year the city welcomed more than 1,000 overseas Vietnamese returning to their homeland in the city.

Lâm Đệ, head of the District 8 Overseas Vietnamese Committee, said around 1,500 Vietnamese from many countries visited the district last year to visit their relatives.

“Most of them have stable lives.”

The district held 41 meetings to update overseas Vietnamese on regulations related to immigration, housing and land use.

The committee spent VNĐ9.56 billion ($411,420) to build charity houses and bridges in rural areas and provide free eye surgeries to disadvantaged people, gifts, and wheelchairs.

This year it has funded nine bridges, nine houses, two classrooms, 500 eye surgeries, and 50 wheelchairs.

“Overseas Vietnamese are willing to participate in charitable activities besides seeking investment and business opportunities in the city,” Đệ said.

At the conference, four outstanding collectives under the committee received certificates of merit from the city People’s Committee for their contributions last year.

One individual and nine collectives received them for their work in the last two years.

The conference heard that the committee planned to continue organising exchanges, investment conferences and meetings between overseas Vietnamese and local people and businesses. — VNS