New decision on encouraging overseas Vietnamese remittances
Ha Noi, June 19 (VNA) -- Prime Minister Phan Van Khai has signed Decision No. 78/2002/QD-TTg to amend and supplement Decision No. 170/1999/QD-TTg dated August 19, 1999 on encouraging overseas Vietnamese to transfer money back to the country.
The newly-signed decision stipulates that a number of institutions are allowed to provide services for receiving and delivering foreign currencies remitted by overseas Vietnamese to their relatives in the country. They are credit institutions acting as agents for the economic organisations that are providing foreign currency receiving and delivering services and credit institutions acting as agents for the licensed credit institutions.
Decision No. 170/1999/QD-TTg dated August 19, 1999 states that these institutions with foreign exchange activities are licensed credit institutions, enterprises providing international postal financial services, and economic organisations licensed by the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV) to provide foreign currency receiving and delivering services or economic organisations acting as domestic foreign currency delivery agents for credit institutions.
Last year, overseas Vietnamese remitted about 2 billion USD to their relatives in the country, a year-on-year rise of 11 percent, according to the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese.
It is estimated that there are more than 2.5 million overseas Vietnamese living in about 100 countries around the world, primarily in the U.S., France, Australia, and Canada.--Enditem
