Vietnamese overseas remittance stands at $8 bln in 2008
Special Report:
HANOI, Jan. 6 (Xinhua) -- Despite the global economic
crisis, the remittance inflow from overseas Vietnamese is estimated to go up by
1.3 billion U.S. dollars to 8 billion U.S. dollars in 2008, said source with the
Overseas Vietnamese Committee under Vietnam Ministry of Foreign Affairs here on
Tuesday.
The increasing number of Vietnamese people going
abroad for work and study has helped increase the amount of overseas remittance
to Vietnam in 2008, said Nguyen Quoc Dung, vice chairman of the committee.
According to Nguyen Ngoc Lan, director of the Foreign
Exchange Management Department under the State Bank of Vietnam, Vietnam's stable
foreign exchange rate and policies on foreign exchange management have helped
attract remittance.
There are about 3 million Vietnamese people now
working in 40 countries and regions, who remit 70 to 80 percent of their annual
income to their relatives in Vietnam, said the committee.
The United Nations listed Vietnam among the top ten
countries receiving the biggest overseas remittance in 2006.
However, domestic and foreign financial experts
warned overseas Vietnamese may face lower income in 2009 due to global financial
difficulties which may hurt overseas remittance inflow.
