Economists forecast that foreign remittances to Việt Nam this year are likely to be US$10-11 billion.
According to the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the money remitted by overseas Vietnamese and guest workers in the first half of the year amounted to $6.3 billion, or 70 percent of the total amount last year.
Nguyễn Hoàng Minh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Việt Nam’s Hồ Chí Minh City Branch, said a large proportion of the remittances in recent years had come in the fourth quarter.
Thus, this year’s figure is likely to increase by 20 to 25 percent from last year’s $9 billion.
According to Phan Huy Khang, General Director of the Sài Gòn Commercial Bank (Sacombank), so far this year nearly $1.3 billion had been remitted through SBR, a Sacombank subsidiary.
Đông Á Bank’s remittance company reported an inflow of $1 billion, with over 60 percent coming from Vietnamese living in the US , Canada , and Australia .
Vietnamese guest workers in Japan , the Republic of Korea , and Taiwan have also sent significant amounts through Đông Á Bank.
Around 4.5 million Vietnamese, including 500,000 guest workers, live in more than 100 countries and territories.
In 2010, with remittances of $8.26 billion, Việt Nam ranked ninth in terms of remittances.
Besides remittances, Vietnamese living abroad have also invested nearly $6 billion in the country, mostly in agriculture, healthcare, manufacturing, property, and tourism, according to the Overseas Vietnamese Committee.
Source: VNA
