Domestic statistics also estimated that Vietnam this year would receive roughly between 13 billion USD and 14 billion USD of remittance. (Source: thoibaonganhang.vn)Hanoi (VNA) - Vietnam this year would remain among the top 15 recipients with remittances of roughly 12.5 billion USD from Vietnamese living overseas, a World Bank (WB) report says.
Banking expert Can Van Luc quoted World Bank's statistics to say at a conference last week that Vietnam was ranked 11th in the WB's list.
The WB's report revealed that India is forecast to gain the top spot, with more than 72 billion USD in remittances, followed by China with 63.9 billion USD. Other major recipients are the Philippines, Mexico, France, and Nigeria, in addition to Egypt and Pakistan, with each receiving roughly more than 20 billion USD.
Domestic statistics also estimated that Vietnam this year would receive roughly between 13 billion USD and 14 billion USD of remittance, up against 12 billion USD last year.
Nguyen Hoang Minh, Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam's HCM City branch, said that the inward remittance to HCM City, which accounts for more than one-third of the country's total remittance, could reach 5.5 billion USD this year, a year-on-year increase of 10 percent.
Minh attributed the rise to the favourable devaluation of the dong against the US dollar, the recovery of local businesses, the warming real estate market and the Government's policies to encourage Viet kieu (overseas Vietnamese) to invest in their homeland including a decision to allow foreigners to own homes in Vietnam.
The Government's policies to encourage overseas Vietnamese to invest in their homeland have helped increase the inflows.
Commercial banks are also optimistic about the inward remittance source this year.
Director of Dong A Bank's Remittance Co Tran Van Trung said his company targeted a remittance growth rate of 15 percent to 20 percent this year. Last year, remittances to the company reached 1.6 billion USD, up 10 percent against the previous year.
Besides the traditional markets of the United States, Australia and Canada, where there are many Viet kieu, Trung said that his company would also focus on new markets such as Japan and Malaysia, which are Vietnam's large labourer export markets.
Remittances continue to underpin economic growth through supporting private consumption and housing markets for Vietnam.
According to Vo Tri Thanh, Deputy Director of the Central Institute for Economic Management, remittances play an important role in the nation's economic development and macro-economic stability.
Statistics from the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs showed that nearly five million Vietnamese are residing in 103 countries and territories around the world. Remittances to Vietnam were 9 billion USD in 2011, 10 billion USD in 2012, 11 billion USD in 2013 and 12 billion USD last year.
Between 1993 and 2014, Vietnam received total remittances of about 96.66 billion USD, with an average remittance of 4.4 billion USD per year, accounting for 6.8 percent of the country's gross domestic product (GDP) over the period.
Remittances into Vietnam have increased about 22.4 percent annually in the past two decades, with an exception in 1997 and 2009 when economies in the world faced a financial crisis.-VNA
