At a conference reviewing the outcomes of the project after five years of implementation. (Photo: Viet Hoang)

The overseas Vietnamese (OV) community is increasingly recognised as a key force and an effective distribution channel, driving the growth of Vietnam’s exports, thereby enhancing the country’s cultural outreach and economic standing on the global stage.

In 2016, approximately 4.5 million Vietnamese were residing in 109 countries and territories. Today, the figures have risen to over 6 million and more than 130, respectively. Once focused on small-scale trade, many OV entrepreneurs now own major retail centres and operate extensive wholesale networks, boosting the availability of Vietnamese products abroad.

Vietnam’s initiative of mobilising OVs to promote and distribute Vietnamese goods abroad (2020–2024) has so far yielded strong results. Products like coffee, cashew nuts, dragon fruits, mangoes, handicrafts, apparel, and processed foods have been introduced more widely in major markets, including the US, the EU, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China. In addition to traditional exports, OV businesses are striving to expand into the categories of new farm produce and spices.

In 2019, the inaugural year of the project, Vietnam’s total trade turnover reached 516.96 billion USD. By the end of 2024, this figure had surged to 786.29 billion USD.

In light of ongoing global and regional complexities, and as the country works towards a GDP growth target of 8% this year, the project’s achievements have played a role in sustaining stable export growth and broader economic development, said Nguyen Trung Kien, Chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese. It has encouraged OVs to further leverage their "soft power" to elevate the national brand internationally, he added.

Nguyen Hong Hue, member of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and President of the Business Association of Overseas Vietnamese (BAOOV), stated that timely and strategic policies have paved a new path for enhancing exports and building a global Vietnamese brand by harnessing the strength of the OV community.

He proposed the introduction of targeted policies to support the next generation of OV entrepreneurs in participating more actively in the Vietnamese goods development ecosystem.

Echoing this sentiment, Vo Van Nam, a Vietnamese expatriate in the Czech Republic and Deputy General Director of Tamda Group a.s., reported that the number of Vietnamese products sold through the group’s system has increased two to threefold over the past five years. This expansion has helped bring Vietnamese goods into more than 10,000 retail outlets owned by Vietnamese individuals across the Czech Republic and Slovakia.