Monday 31 March 2008

Vietnam: Overseas remittances estimated at US$5 billion

Overseas remittances to Vietnam are expected to increase by US$300 million this year to around US$5 billion, said an official from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

The flow of overseas remittances to Ho Chi Minh City alone is estimated at US$3.6 billion, an increase of US$600 million from 2006, said Nguyen Ngoc Lan, Deputy Director of the SBV’s Foreign Exchange Management Department.

Sacomrex, a foreign remittance service company under the Saigon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank (Sacombank), took the lead in attracting overseas remittances in the last 11 months, with US$840 million. The figure is expected to increase to US$930 million by the end of this year, 40 percent higher than 2006’s figure. Meanwhile, the Bank for Foreign Trade of Vietnam (Vietcombank) also reported a 50-percent rise.

Apart from traditional markets such as the US, Australia, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan, the Middle East has become an important foreign remittance source due to the increasing number of Vietnamese guest workers there.

The Vietnam Eximbank is planning to co-ordinate with labour export-involved businesses to attract overseas remittances from guest workers. So far this year, Eximbank has fetched US$320 million in overseas remittances, and the figure is expected to increase to US$400 million for the whole year.

Banking experts attributed the increase of the remittance volume to simplified money transfer procedures. In addition, the development of the stock market coupled with opportunities from the real estate market are encourag. Source

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