Nearly 800 overseas Vietnamese from over 20 countries and territories engaged in a get-together hosted by the municipal Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee on February 4 to welcome the Lunar New Year (Tet) festival.

Le Hoang Quan, Chairman of the HCM City People’s Committee said the city treasured the contributions made by overseas Vietnamese to the cause of national construction and development in general and to the city in particular.

Quan said he hoped that overseas Vietnamese will continue to assist in the development of the country, and act as a bridge between Vietnam and international friends.

At the get-together, many overseas Vietnamese were honoured with an insignia of the Ministry of Planning and Investment, and certificates of merit from HCM City People’s Committee.

Currently, there are 400 overseas Vietnamese experts and intellectuals who came back to live and work permanently in the city. Overseas Vietnamese have also invested in 2,500 businesses with a total capital of 50 trillion VND (2.4 billion USD).-VNA