Many delegates attended the "Xuan Que huong" said though living far from the homeland, they have nurtured their love of and maintained close bonds with the home country.

Over 1,000 delegates representing more than 6 million Vietnamese living in all continents attended the "Xuan Que huong" (Homeland Spring) programme in Ho Chi Minh City on February 2.

The event is held annually on the threshold of the Lunar New Year (Tet) – the biggest and longest festival in a year of Vietnamese people – for outstanding Vietnamese people living abroad.

Many delegates said though living far from the homeland, they have nurtured their love of and maintained close bonds with the home country.

Speaking at the event, Nguyen Ngoc Luan from Australia said with the wish to find a place for Vietnamese farm produce on the international market, his company (Meet More Coffee) has focused on coffee and gained certain success in introducing products from Vietnamese coffee to international consumers.

“Overseas Vietnamese always look towards the homeland and are proud of the nation. We hope that mechanisms in Resolution 98 will open up opportunities for us to contribute to the city and the country,” Luan said.

Tran Dinh Thang from the US noted the Vietnamese intellectual community in the US have great potential, so a suitable model to develop connectivity with OVs is needed in order to fully tap this resource for Vietnam’s development.

Dinh Vinh Cuong from Japan stressed that the traditional values and patriotism are the source of motivation for every OV to work to contribute more to the Fatherland’s prosperity.

Chairman of the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City Phan Van Mai acknowledged the remarkable contributions of OVs to the city’s economic and social attainments in 2023. Sharing with the OVs the city’s development plans this year, he hoped OVs continue to make recommendations to the city and help connect the city with resources so that it can effectively implement those plans.