HÀ NỘI — Vice President Đặng Thị Ngọc Thịnh on Tuesday awarded the Independence Medal, First Class for the second time to the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs thanks to its special achievements over the years.

The medal was awarded on the 60^th anniversary of the committee, which comes under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Congratulating the committee, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Phạm Bình Minh said it was an honour for the committee and the entire ministry.

It was deserving recognition from the State and the Party for the committee’s efforts and proud achievements, he added.

Over the past six decades, the committee had developed sustainably and became an important organisation for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The committee had run many programmes that were highly appreciated by overseas Vietnamese such as a teaching programme Xuân Quê Hương (Spring in the Hometown), visiting the Trường Sa (Spratly) Islands, and a summer camp for youngsters.

All these programmes helped connect overseas Vietnamese with the country, said Minh.

The Deputy PM asked the committee to continue its work and creatively applying the Party’s policies on national unity.

The committee should research overseas Vietnamese potential and desires and adjust policies to make effective use of them. The focus should be put on technological transfer, investment and trade to adapt to the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

The committee should resolve problems such as nationality and civil status to support them in foreign countries, help them uphold Vietnamese culture and act as a bridge to improve relations between Việt Nam and other countries during the process of international integration.

Speaking at the event, Trịnh Cao Sơn, chairman of the overseas Vietnamese community in Thailand, said all overseas Vietnamese always returned to their homeland, and did not want to be separated from Việt Nam.

Overseas Vietnamese would continue to contribute to the socio-economic development of Việt Nam and uphold Việt Nam’s culture in foreign countries.

The overseas Vietnamese community has developed continuously with about 4.5 million people in more than 110 countries and territories.

More than 500,000 of them have upper-university qualifications, including senior engineers and experts in science and technology, economy and finance.

Every year, about 400-500 intellectuals take part in scientific and technological activities in Việt Nam.

At present, nearly 3,000 Vietnamese entrepreneurs living abroad invest in enterprises in Việt Nam with total capital of about US$4 billion. — VNS