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Vice President promises to take Viet Kieu seriously
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Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan has promised to seriously mull proposals and ideas by Overseas Vietnamese for the country’s development as well as help them better integrate into host countries and at the same time, preserve Vietnamese culture.

Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan made the promise at a meeting titled “Community Unity for Integration and Developments” that opened Friday in Da Lat city.

At the meeting, Therese Nguyen Van Ky, Chairwoman of the Overseas Vietnamese Association in France, said over 50 percent of Viet Kieu in France are young people of the second and third generations.

They are well educated and well integrated into French society and have little time to study Vietnamese culture, she said.

Ky also asked the Vietnamese government to work out suitable policies to support Viet Kieu in returning to Vietnam to work as well as those who are already here.

In addition, Vietnam should annually send 5-10 artists to perform in France for young people to have better contacts with Vietnamese culture.

Doan said she highly appreciated these ideas and instructed local authorities and embassies to offer better support to Viet Kieu communities abroad, especially in teaching the Vietnamese language.

With such support, each Viet Kieu will become an ambassador of Vietnam in the international community, Doan said.

“I totally agree with the suggestions of Ms. Therese Nguyen Van Ky in preserving Vietnamese culture and tradition among young Viet Kieu,” Doan said.

Vietnam now has four million Viet Kieu living in 103 nations all over the world. In 2010, they sent home US$8.6 billion and in the first 9 months of this year, $7 billion.

President Truong Tan Sang also sent a letter to welcome the delegates attending the four-day meeting at the Dalat Edensee Resort.