Ha Noi (VNA) - Overseas Vietnamese (Viet Kieu) are continuing to warmly welcome State President Nguyen Minh Triet's announcement that they will be exempt from visas during the President's visit to the United States.
Nguyen The Hao, an overseas Vietnamese in Chesten Hill, Australia, was moved to tears while speaking to a Vietnam News Agency reporter: "The country, though still poor, is very considerate towards those living far away."
He said the visa exemption policy is a new step forward and the most concrete action representing the Politburo's Decree No. 36 relating to overseas Vietnamese, proving that the State and Party really considers them children of the nation.
" I, like many other overseas Vietnamese, felt proud to be Vietnamese," he said.
Nguyen Dinh Tu, a lawyer in California's Orange County, said he would not forget the moment when he together with nearly 1,000 overseas Vietnamese burst into applause after hearing President Triet's official announcement on visa exemption for overseas Vietnamese.
"Overseas Vietnamese have waited for this for a long time and the move proves the Government's trust in overseas Vietnamese," stressed Tu.
President Triet announced the Government's decision to exempt visas for overseas Vietnamese holding foreign passports as of September 1 while meeting with overseas Vietnamese from California on June 23.
The President affirmed that the Party and State always hopes that overseas Vietnamese join hands to help Viet Nam become a peaceful and strong nation.
Sharing Tu's view, Christophe Tran Van Tuan, a businessman from France, stressed that the decision demonstrated the country's open-heartedness towards overseas Vietnamese.
He expressed his belief that the policy would encourage overseas Vietnamese to visit their fatherland more frequently.
The visa exemption will not have a great financial impact but it proves the country's fair treatment towards all overseas Vietnamese wherever they are, Tuan said.
Tuan added that he plans to visit Viet Nam in September, the time when visa exemption will take effect, with many plans to invest and settle in the country.
Many overseas Vietnamese also expressed hope that the State will make more policies to create favourable conditions for overseas Vietnamese.
"We hope that there will be more initiatives to boost cooperation between Vietnamese within the country and those abroad. Viet Nam should have more regulations ensuring the interests of those overseas Vietnamese desiring to get involved in the national construction process," said Nguyen Manh Hung, President of the Hoa Sen (Lotus) Association in Belgium.
At a meeting with overseas Vietnamese in Italy on July 8, Foreign Deputy Minister Nguyen Phu Binh, who doubles as Chairman of the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, stressed that visa exemption for both overseas Vietnamese and their families' members would encourage them to visit their homeland and particularly, enable them to contribute more to the country's national construction and development in the years to come.
According to the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, close to 500,000 out of more than 3 million overseas Vietnamese return Viet Nam each year to seek investment opportunities.-Enditem
|