Foreign remittance estimated at 5 billion USD

Foreign remittance to Viet Nam is expected to increase by 300 million USD this year to around 5 billion USD, said an official from the State Bank of Viet Nam (SBV).

The flow of foreign remittance to Ho Chi Minh City alone is estimated at 3.6 billion USD, an increase of 600 million USD 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), is taking the lead in attracting foreign remittance in the 11 months to November, with 840 million USD. The figure is expected to increase to 930 million USD by the end of this year, up 41 percent year-on-year.

The Bank for Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank) also reported a 50-percent rise over 2006. Last year, the amount of foreign currency remitted to Viet Nam via the bank made up 10 percent of the country’s total.

Along with 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.

Foreign currency remitted to Viet Nam via the Eastern Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank is predicted to increase by 40 percent to 850 million USD this year.

In a bid to increase foreign remittance volume, Vietnam Eximbank is planning to co-ordinate with labour export-involved businesses to attract foreign remittance from guest workers. So far this year, Eximbank has posted 320 million USD in foreign remittance, which is expected to increase to 400 million USD for the whole year.

Banking experts attributed the increase of foreign remittance volume to simplified money transfer procedures. In addition, they said, the development of the stock market coupled with opportunities from the real estate market are encouraging overseas Vietnamese to send money to their relatives in their homeland for investment.

(Source: VNA)