Remittances to HCMC three times FDI inflow: official

Ho Chi Minh City Vice Chairman Vo Van Hoan has said 2023 overseas remittances into the city is set to increase 35% year-on-year at around $9 billion.

This is nearly triple the city’s FDI inflow for the year, Hoan said Thursday at the 32nd National Diplomatic Conference in Hanoi on Thursday.

He attributed the increase in remittances to dynamic foreign relations activities, focusing on trade promotion and investment attraction as well as regular meetings and dialogues with the foreign business community.

Jan-Sept remittances to the city hit $6.6 billion, up 40% year-on-year and exceeding last year's inflow. In the third quarter alone, the figure was over $2.35 billion, higher than the previous two quarters.

Hoan noted that every year the amount of remittances coming to HCMC accounts for more than half of the country's total.

“This financial resource, in addition to serving the city's economic development, has contributed to creating resources for HCMC to promote its development as a financial hub,” he said.

He added HCMC is currently the only place in Vietnam recognized as a secondary financial center since March 2020. The city accounts for more than 95% of the total market capitalization and 64.8% of the country's GDP.

“To help HCMC become a truly global financial center, the locality must make efforts to improve its competitiveness, adopt appropriate models and directions, and devise breakthrough policies to attract investors and large corporations,” Hoan said.

He said the city hoped for assistance from the central government, ministries and agencies to set up a complete, transparent and safe legal system for financial investors, particularly international investors.

"For its part, HCMC commits to readying land funds, planning, infrastructure and human resources to meet investor requirements."

Deputy Director of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV)’s HCMC branch, Nguyen Duc Lenh, predicted a 20% growth in remittances to the city next year on the back of expected global economic recovery. However, complex socio-political developments can pose challenges, Lenh cautioned.

He said the city was preparing a project aimed at attracting and maximizing the utilisation of remittances, with specific goals including remittance growth rate, social projects in education, healthcare and environmental protection funded by remittances, and engagement of Vietnamese diaspora.

One key objective is to achieve a remittance growth rate of at least 10% a year during the 2023-2025 period and sustain it through 2030, he added.