“It hurts to see my kids study abroad and then not return to Vietnam to work”

NB – August 19, 2022

“He was heartbroken when he mentioned Project 165 for the training and promotion of executives and managers abroad with the state budget. He said that out of 3,000 PhD students, 67% are abroad, 27% work in state agencies and the rest quit.” (PTH quotes)

Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Huu Dung chaired the conference – Photo: THAO LE

On the morning of August 19, the Southern Working Group of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front held a conference to recognize the thoughts and aspirations of people of all classes in the southern region in the third quarter of 2022. Deputy Chairman of the Central Committee of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Nguyen Huu Dung chaired the conference.

Mr. Peter Hong, vice president of the Overseas Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association, said at the conference that the Politburo recently completed No. 12, recognizing the important contribution of Vietnamese people in the country.

Mr Hong said the amount of remittances to Vietnam last year was about US$18 billion/year, of which Ho Chi Minh City accounted for about US$6.1 billion. At present, companies owned by foreign Vietnamese in Vietnam have about 4,337 companies with 45 trillion dongs, of which the city has 1,324 companies with nearly 23 trillion dongs.

According to Mr. Peter Hong, the amount of remittances to Vietnam is only a small story, it is important to attract and use the wisdom of overseas-educated Vietnamese. There are currently about 500,000 intellectuals who are well-educated Vietnamese children abroad. Many intellectuals want to return to Vietnam to work, but face many difficulties.

Mr. Peter Hong – Vice President of Overseas Vietnamese Entrepreneurs Association – commented – Photo: THAO LE

“Not far away, my wife is the chief physician of a large hospital abroad. Her current salary is about 187,000 USD/year (about 4.3 billion VND/year). She wants to return to Vietnam to work, but the salary is only 14 million dong/month, how can I return?” said Hong-san.

As further proof, Mr. Hong talked about the “Road to Olympia” program, many people joked “Road to the top of Australia, not Olympia”. Because the first-class candidates decide to work in Australia after studying abroad.

“I advised a child to come back. He told me that he loved his uncle but would let him go back and forth next year, saying he couldn’t work here,” Mr Hong said.

According to Mr. Hong, Vietnam needs to spend US$1.4 billion every year to get about 100,000 children to study abroad, but then doesn’t need those intellectuals.

He was heartbroken when he mentioned Project 165 for the training and promotion of executives and managers abroad with the state budget. He said that out of 3,000 PhD students, 67% are abroad, 27% work in state agencies and the rest quit.

“I find it painful to see my children studying abroad and never coming back. I feel sad when I think of our next generation,” said Mr. Peter Hong.

Ahead of the comments from members of the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee, Mr. Nguyen Huu Dung said he would record, select and synthesize to reflect to party and state bodies and prepare reports for Congress.

Corruption whistleblowers are considered “competitors and status trumpets”.

Attorney Nguyen Van Hau – Vice President of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association – spoke at the conference – Photo: THAO LE

Commenting on anti-corruption work in the past, attorney Nguyen Van Hau, deputy chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association, said voters were interested in a recent amendment to the land law. In particular, the lawyer said that the abolition of the land price bracket is very important to prevent corruption.

“As in the recent cases, the land price is in the thousands of billions, but the valuation is in the tens of billions, many officials have been arrested. Many problems such as land disputes, compensation, and negative staffing stem in part from a lack of institutional arrangements. completed,” said Mr. Hau, asking for comments on the subject.

In addition, according to Mr. Hau, there is currently a situation in which corruption whistleblowers are seen as a disruptive factor, causing internal discord, “brawling, sounding trumpets”, “scratching hair and finding tracks”. This also deters whistleblowers.

Therefore, Mr. Hau said that in order to effectively prevent and fight corruption, there must be a power control mechanism, primarily with the head. Because the boss has a great deal of decision-making power over personnel and socio-economic issues.

According to Mr. Hau, in the past period, there has been a large group of provincial and municipal violations that need to be prosecuted. Some high-ranking cadres, such as Binh Duong Provincial Party Committee Secretary, former Minister of Science and Technology, also passed the oversight stage from the grassroots and local levels, and after occupying other higher positions, they were spotted.

He said there was a need to expedite the finalization of the Anti-Corruption Law to ensure its viability and effectiveness. On the other hand, loopholes in socio-economic management, particularly in areas prone to corruption, must be overcome.

There is an open provision on the lowest level of trial penalties when the corrupt offenders recover all or most of the appropriated property. This encourages offenders to return the money appropriated to enjoy the leniency of the law.