Communist Review - The community of the overseas Vietnamese is an inseparable part of the community of the Vietnamese nation. The association organization of the overseas Vietnamese plays an important role in disseminating the advocacies and lines of the Party, the policies and laws of the State of Vietnam; through which it is possible to strengthen the great national unity block, making a contribution to further enhancing the Party’s foreign relations in the renovation cause, to act as an important bridge to promote the friendly relations between Vietnam and the countries in the world.

The role of the community and the association organization of overseas Vietnamese

In the past years, with the care and leadership of the Party, the State, the close and effective coordination between the Central Commission of Mass Mobilization and The Party Civil Affairs Committee of the Foreign Ministry, the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the political and social organization in giving guidance, the associations of the overseas Vietnamese have seen positive changes. The associations have developed strongly and their range of activities have expanded; a lot of comprehensive solutions have been deployed in mobilizing, rallying and supporting and many important results have been made, making an active contribution to enhancing and promoting the strength of the great national unity; encouraging and raising the national pride and respect and their sentiments of getting close connection with the homeland and the nation; they are also ready to help each other to strive harder in life and in integration with the local societies.

At present, the communities of the overseas Vietnamese have got about 5.3 million people living and working in over 130 countries and territories, in which over 80% are in the developed countries, and the majority of them have got the legal positions and stable life and they have got an intensive and extensive integration in the local societies. In the past 5 years, the total remittances transferred to Vietnam have reached more than USD71 billion (up by 6% annually), contributing to improving the balance of payment and increasing the State’s foreign exchange reserve. A lot of changes for the better have been seen in building the association organizations and in the personnel work of the associations, thus ensuring the quality of their operation, in which attention has been paid to selecting, training and fostering cadres and the sorting work has been carried out right at the grass-root levels; the exemplary role of the contingent of cadres of the associations has been promoted in mobilizing the overseas Vietnamese. The coordination, guidance, inspection and supervision of the associations at different levels have been ever more strengthened, while the associations’ work quality has been regularly improved, making an important part to building the Party abroad.

However, the mass mobilization work has still got definite limitations, due to the areas in operation in some countries are large, the characteristics of the communities are different; let alone they are also impacted by the political environment and the diplomatic relations between Vietnam and the local countries; at the same time, the potential of the communities of the overseas Vietnamese is not yet promoted well in some places. The building of the association organizations in many places is yet to be close; their operation is still lax, while the content of operation is still left much to be desired. The coordination, guidance, inspection and supervision are also not yet to be really close; there are still certain manifestations of formality, avoidance, lacking of  concreteness, even it is yet to be comprehensive.

The activities to united and rally the overseas Vietnamese somewhere, sometime are yet to obtain high results. The coordination in building the association organizations and between the association organizations abroad and the organizations and the functional agencies at home is still limited. The issuance of a number of policies, stipulations and guidance is still slow; the deployment of implementation of some policies and measures is yet to be synchronous and timely; the results of the mobilization, the attraction of resources of the overseas Vietnamese are yet to match with the potential, especially in such areas as the technological transfer, investment and trade. Therefore, it is yet to meet the requirements of the economic and social development and the ever more intensive and extensive international integration. The role of the overseas Vietnamese in raising the image of Vietnam in the local countries and in promoting the relations between Vietnam and other countries is still limited; the coordination between the commissions, ministries, sectors and localities in carrying out the overseas Vietnamese work is yet to be really close and effective.

A number of solutions to renew the mode, to improve the effectiveness of the operation of the association organizations of overseas Vietnamese

In the years to come, the world situation will continue to develop complicatedly and will make an impact in various aspects on the security and development of the country, creating both advantages and challenges. The overseas Vietnamese communities have become ever stronger in quantity and expanded further in terms of areas. The role, position and prestige of the overseas Vietnamese have been ever more improved. Vietnam has entered in the stage of new development (the 2021-2030 stage), as pointed out by the Resolution of the 13^th Party Congress, with the higher requirements of development and intensive and extensive international integration. In this condition, the work of overseas Vietnamese and the mobilization of the Vietnamese abroad have seen the stronger, more comprehensive and profound changes. On the basis of promoting the obtained results in recent time, the association organizations of the overseas Vietnamese need to continue to renew the mode, to improve the operational quality, in which it needs to concentrate on implementing well these solutions:

Firstly, to renew the propaganda, education, persuation and mobilization of overseas Vietnamese.

To continue to grasp deeply and implement consistently the advocacies of the Party on the consolidation of the great national unity block in the new context. It is necessary to really consider the communities of overseas Vietnamese as the inseparable parts and an important resource of the communities of the Vietnamese nation in building and deploying the related policies; taking the relationship with the countries into the depth, stability and sustainability, thus creating favourable conditions to our compatriots in foreign countries to consolidate their legal position, feel assured in work, study, business and in living to have better integration in the local countries.

To concentrate on propaganda and education to improve the political, ideological, moral and life style awareness of the cadres of the association organizations, their members and overseas Vietnamese, particularly attention should be paid to grasping the advocacies, viewpoints and lines of the Party, the policies and the laws of the State, in which there are advocacies and viewpoints about the economic and social development, national defence-security in combination with the building of the association organizations; at the same time, it needs to enhance the propaganda and educational work in terms of history, culture and tradition of the Vietnamese nation for the overseas Vietnamese in combination with the renewal and improvement of the awareness of agencies and units in the political system and mass organizations of the people of all strata.

To regularly disseminate in a proactive way the information of special subjects, the information of the relevant theoretical issues and the achievements of the Vietnanmese revolution, thus contributing to combating against the wrong, reactionary allegations of the hostile forces and of the political opportunists; at the same time, to enhance the activities of communications in order to transmit the most precise information concerning advocacies and lines of the Party, the policies and laws of the State to the Vietnamese compatriots abroad on the basis of diversification of the contents, forms and means of communications, taking advantage of the tools on the Internet, such as the on-line papers and social networking sites; to focus on taking books, newspapers and magazines in the country to the communities of overseas Vietnamese and organize the cultural exchanges in service of the overseas Vietnamese.

To pay more attention to the younger generation of overseas Vietnamese with many frequent activities to help them turn towards their roots so as to nurture their national pride and their sentiments to love the homeland and the country more. To maintain the Vietnamese language for the younger generation and for even the whole communities, the teaching and learning of the Vietnamese language should continue to be enhanced vigorously through many abundant, practical activities, such as to enhance the contingent of teachers, to supply the teaching and learning aids, text books, to help with schools and classes, to organize the training courses of the Vietnamese language. The association organizations at different levels should organize the activities suitable to the psychology and requirements of the young peoole of the overseas Vietnamese so as to help them fully aware of their responsibilities in training, learning and in turning towards their homeland, their Fatherland.

Secondly, to improve the effectiveness of the movements and the mobilizations to build the communities and to turn towards the homeland and the country; to take care of and to protect the legal and legitimate rights and interests of the members of the associations and the overseas Vietnamese.

The movements and mobilizations should have the unification in leadership and guidance of the party committees and party organizations in the local countries; should have the synchronous coordination of the associations with the representative offices of Vietnam in the local countries. In which, the party committees are the leading cores in terms of advocacies and orientations for implementation; the representative offices should have suitable policies and solutions to support the movements, the mobilizations and the rewards and commendation; at the same time, the associations should also have many abundant and diverse forms to encourage and promote the people of all strata to take an active part in the movements and the mobilizations. Each movement and mobilization should determine clearly their contents and goals which are of practical significance, thus meeting the requirements and tasks of each stage; meeting the legitimate interests and aspirations of the communities of overseas Vietnamese who want to keep pace with the breath of the pratical life; at the same time, the movement should be deployed in a diverse, timely way, to the right objects so as to ensure the effective promotion of the great role of the overseas Vietnamese.

The party committees, the party organizations and the representative offices should always keep their close watch of the orientation and guidance so as to give support to the association organizations to build the advanced models with the best and effective ways of doing things. All the models should bring about the practical efficiency, thus making a contribution to implementing the tasks and contents mapped out by the movements and mobilizations. To create the spillover from the emblematic models with the core humanistic values, served as the examples of the outstanding collective units and individuals; to have the treatment regime so as create the dynamism to encourage these symbolic individuals to continue their contributions to the communities and to the homeland and the country. To integrate the contents of the movement into other activities of the committees, sectors and masses at home; to connect closely between the building of the movement and the bulding of the communities of overseas Vietnamese for the harmonious and progressive development.

To frequently carry out the inspection, review, preliminary sum-up and summarization of the emulation movements and the mobilizations; in which it is necessary to be proactive in assessing the degree of development of the movement so as to be able to work out the suitable solutions, to promote the best possible effectiveness of the movement; especially, to determine the point of time of the upsurge of the movement so as to put forth the solutions to promote in time, thus bringing about the high effectiveness  or to make a decision on the concluding point of time when the movement has met the requirements and tasks of the launching phase and stage. That the people are organized to implement the emulation movement should have the synchronous coordination and responsibilities of the organizations, agencies and units at different levels; the more synchronous and timely the coordination is, the higher and more effective the active impact is.

The association organizations should implement well the care and make a contribution to protecting the legal and legitimate interests of the members and of the overseas Vietnamese, particularly at the time when the community is in difficulties; to pay special attention to the areas where our compatriots have not got a stable life yet. Besides, it is necessary to enhance the guidance and support to the newly established associations in order to build a united and strong community which will practise the mutual help in life and turn to the homeland; to organize the cultural and art performances in order to meet the spiritual life of the compatriots in a more regular way, along with the support to the culture centres of the communities in an effective way, in which there is the meeting of spiritual and religious requirements of the overseas Vietnamese communities in the local countries.

Thirdly, to diversify the forms of unity and rallying of the overseas Vietnamese; to promote the proactiveness and innovation of the associations at different levels in mobilizing the overseas Vietnamese in conformity with the characteristics of the local countries.

To diversify the forms and contents of organization, to creat conditions for the compatriots to participate further in the political and social events of the country, so as to connect to their roots, to arouse the patriotic tradition and the national pride, thus attracting a lof of generations of compatriots all over the world to join in. The overseas Vietnamese  have partiticpated in contributing their opinions to the draft documents of the Party Congress; to the big issues relating to the economy-society, to territorial sovereignty and to the “national welfare and the people’s livelihood”; these opinions have been transferred to  the senior leaders and the competent authorities. The emblematic representatives of overseas Vietnamese are to take part in the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Vietnam Fatherland Front in localities. The activities to promote the intellectual and economic resources of the compatriots should be carried out more frequently, such as the support to the scientists and intellectuals who are overseas Vietnamese when they return to the country to work and a lot of meeting programs between the overseas Vietnamese enterprises and the domestic enterprises should be organized.

Together with the traditional operational mode, all the levels of associations should continue to promote the effective deployment of the solutions to rally, unite and orientate the activities of the associations of the overseas Vietnamese on the cyber space. To organize the movements and the competitions and to attach importance to the widespread posting of information on the social networking sites in the visual form that is understandable, close and modern. The associations at all leels should coordinate their organization so that the famous people who have great influences among young people and in the communities of the overseas Vietnamese can be able to have regular exchanges and dialogues on the content and areas the communities have been concerned with. All the activities in the cyber space are the advantageous environment to unite and rally the young people, businessmen, intellectuals and the whole communities. It is committed to use effectively the remittances, to study to set up the overseas Vietnamese financial fund, to pledge to have favourable policies to attract the remittances to the investment projects and the key construction projects of the country.

To enhance the unity and connection of the association organizations in the community, to help the community to have deeper integration into the local countries and to turn towards their homeland. Vietnamese students studying abroad are really the bridge between the generation of overseas Vietnamese who cannot speak Vietnamese and the country. The Association of Vietnamese Youth and Students abroad should be proactive in the movement of cultural activities of the communities, such as to organize the traditional festivals or the writing competition to get to know about Vietnam and so on, thus helping the young generation of the overseas Vietnamese to keep their close touch and to turn towards their homeland Vietnam. The associations have taken an active part in building and strengthening firmly the great national unity block; coordinated with ministries, sectors and agencies in grasping the situation, expanding the scope of contact, promoting the mobilization and the combat with the groups and individuals who have their hostile ideas against the common interests of the nation, speeding up the trend that all should turn towards the homeland and the country, and being proactive to get direct contact and dialogue with some organizations and individuals that have influences in the communities. To carry out satisfactorily the policy on treatment and reward for those who have rendered great services and who have made outstanding achievements in building the communities and in making a lot of contributions to the country with a view to encouraging in time and to creating the connectivity between the overseas Vietnamese and the homeland; at the same time to resolutely struggle against the actions that run counter to the interests of the communities and of the country.

Fourthly, to renew and enhance the building of the assotiation organization, the personnel work of the associations and to give care to building the core force with the prestigeous people in the communities of overseas Vietnamese.

To continue to perfect the structure of organization and apparatus, to improve the capacities of cadres who have got involved in doing the work concerning the overseas Vietnamese so as to be able to carry out well all the tasks in the new situation. To focus on taking care and consolidating the building of the strong association organization; to step by step standardize the contingent of cadres of the assosiations with quality and growth from the mass movement; to attach importance to training, fostering and improving the level, knowledge and skills of organizing the activities of unity and rallying the overseas Vietnamese; to bring into full play the enthusiastic and examplary role of the cadres of the associations.

The Vietnam Fatherland Front, the political and social organizations should closely coordinate with the Foreign Ministry to focus on consolidating the traditional associations, encouraging the new form of rallying. To summarize the appraisal of the trial recognition and create conditions for the sub-committees of overseas Vietnamese to become the members of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, the Vietnam Women’s Union, the Vietnam Youth Union and others and to build the suitable and specific mechanism so as to deploy the implementation in the coming time.

To attach importance and give care to the fostering of young cadres; to promote further the role of the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in accompanying and in orientating the activities of the students’ association and the overseas students’ society abroad. Attention should be paid to those Vietnamese who have studied or worked abroad as high-tech workers, because this is the key force in attracting and connecting the overseas Vietnamese. To organize the training, fostering and mobilizing so as to attract the young generation of overseas Vietnamese to take poart in the associations of the community. At present, a lot of associations have been set up, but due to the limitation of their budgets, many associations are still confused in their operation. That is why, the State should reserve certain part of the budget for the training of cadres and for the funding of the operation of the associations of the overseas Vietnamese.; to consolidate the organization and to support the associations so that they can be able to carry out their more active and effective operations to be worthy of the “extension arm” of the Party and the State in rallying the overseas Vietnamese to turn towards the homeland and the country.

The mobilization and promotion of the role of the prestigious people in the communities of the overseas Vietnamese must be placed under the unified guidance of the party committees, the party organizations and the representative offices of Vietnam in the local countries; there must be a close coordination among the relevant committees, sectors and organizations. To ensure that the overseas Vietnamese are unified in their awareness of the criteria for those who are prestigious in the communities; to determine clearly the scope, prestige and influence of the overseas Vietnamese who are prestigious in the communities. The form of mobilization should be flexible and suitable to the characteristics, requirements and tasks of each community; to expand the scope of mobilization, to keep contact with the individuals who are prestigious and influential in the communities. To study to build the policy to support the associations, the core forces in the communities.

The promote further the role of the members of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front who are the overseas Vietnamese, the prestigious and influential individuals in the communities, the businessmen, experts and symbolic intellectuals in rallying and uniting work of the communities in the local countries. To promote the role of the associations, the prestigious people and the overseas Vietnamese in the consultancy to help the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front, the political and social organizations in supervision and debates concerning the advocacies, policies and contents relating to the overseas Vietnamese, to do well the reward for the overseas Vietnamese who have made great contriutions to the Fatherland and to the community work.

Fifthly, to renew and improve the effectiveness of coordination, guidance, inspection and supervision of the different levels of the associations.

To continue to renew and improve the effectiveness of coordination and guidance so as to carry out well the agreements and the programs of the inter-sectoral coordination in the coming time. The coordinating programs should have the important point in order to improve the quality and effectiveness of mobilizying, rallying and uniting the overseas Vietnamese in the new situation. The coordination should ensure the unification in action in a close, frequent and continuous manner; at the same time, to enhance to build the mechanism and regulations of coordination, to make clearer the functions and tasks between the Vietnam Fatherland Front at different levels, the political and social organizations and the managing agencies of the State; the relevant agencies and organizations, in order to create the spirit of unit and synergy in mobilizing, rallying and uniting the overseas Vietnamese.

In the current situation, it is necessary to renew and enhance the inspection and supervision of the Party in terms of the Party building and revamping in general and the association and mobilization work of the overseas Vietnamese in particular. Turning the inspection and supervision to the implementation of the advocacies and the lines of the Party on the foreign relations and the work towards the overseas Vietnamese. To inspect and supervise the implementation of the resolutions and instructions (1); at the same time the inspection and supervision should be carried out synchronously, closely and strictly and promote the role of supervision of the contingent of cadres, party members and the masses of people. Those party members have certain signs of violating the Party Rules, the law, then an open, democratic criticism must be organized for the purpose of deterrence and education; there is no “live and let live”, no regard, no avoidance. To uphold the responsibilities of the chief in the management of party members and as a result, it is possible to put forth the timely and suitable adjustment so as to resolve the problems for the overseas Vietnamese in the process of investment, trade and cooperation in the country.

Sixthly, to enhance the leadership of the party committees towards the associations and the mobilization of the overseas Vietnamese.

The party work abroad is the organic part of the Party building work so as to implement the lines and policies on foreign relations of the Party and the State. In the current revolutionary stage, it is necessary to promote the synergy of the whole political system in leading and guiding the party organizations, party members and the masses abroad to implement the assigned political tasks.

In the new situation, it demands that there must be a contingent of cadres with new thinking and new leading skills; the responsibilities of party members and civil officials must be upheld so as to have capacities to meet well the requirements of their positions and their work in order to implement well the advocacies and lines of the Party. That is why, in the coming time, it is necessary to improve the quality, to promote the vanguard, examplary role of party members; especially, to improve the leading role of the party committees, the party organizations, particularly the party committees and party organizations at the representative offices concerning the mobilization of overseas Vietnamese, to attach importance to promoting the vanguard and exemplary character of cadres and party members abroad; in which, each party organization, cadre, party member commit themselves not to have any manifestation of ideological, political and life style degeneration in the spirit of the Resolution of the 4^th Plenum of the 12^th and 13^th Party tenures.

In the direction to build the professional and disciplined administrative apparatus with the simple, convenient and transparent procedures, to uphold the regular role and the unified State management in terms of the work for the overseas Vietnamese. The fact shows that in any representative offices where there are the regular cadres in charge of the community or there are the community committees, then the work for the overseas Vietnamese there can be deployed in a proactive, active and creative manner. Therefore, the model of a community work committee at the representative offices should be replicated in the areas, especially where there is a great number of the Vietnamese living. When there is a regular part together with the training of the overseas Vietnamese mobilization for the representative offices, the fostering of the key cadres of the associations of the overseas Vietnamese, then the mobilization of the overseas Vietnamese will surely obtain more essential and more effective results./.

---------------------

(1) The Resolution No. 04/NQ-TW, on October 30, 2016, the 4^th Plenum, the 12^th Party tenure, “On enhancing the Party building and revamping; to stop and push back the political, moral and life style degeneration, the manifestations of ‘Self-evolution’, ‘self-transformation’ in the internal Party”; the Instruction No. 05-CT/TW, on May 15, 2016 of the Political Bureau, the 12^th tenure, “On enhancing the study and following of Ho Chi Minh ideology, morality and style”, The Conclusion No. 01-KL/TW on May 18, 2021 of the Political Bureau, the 13^th tenure, “On the continuity of implementing the Instruction No. 05-CT/TW of the Political Bureau, the 12^th tenure, on the enhancement of the study and follow Ho Chi Minh ideology, morality and style”

(2) The Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW on March 26, 2004, of the Political Bureau, the 9^th tenure, “On the work towards the overseas Vietnamese”; the Instruction No. 45-CT/TW, on May 19, 2015 of the Political Bureau, “On the continuity of pushing ahead the implementation of the Resolution No. 36-NQ/TW of the Political Bureau, the 9^th tenure, on the work towards the overseas Vietnamese in the new situation”

(3) The Conclusion No. 12-KL/TW on August 12, 2021, the Political Bureau, “On the work towards the overseas Vietnamese in the new situation”

(4) The Decision No. 209-QĐ/TW, on November 26, 2019, of the Political Bureau, “On the Mergence of the Overseas Party Committees with the Foreign Ministry Party Committee”, the Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW, on October 25, 2017, of the 6^th Plenum, the 12^th tenure, “On a number of issues concerning the continuity of renovation, the arrangement of the apparatus organization of the streamlined political system for efficient and effective operation”

This article was published in the Communist Review No. 989 (May 2022)