New programmes in the pipeline for overseas residents The local Fatherland Front plans to strengthen relations with overseas Vietnamese, who send millions of US dollar as remittances each year to the country, by forming new clubs and making adjustments to State policies.    From 2007 to 2012, about 15,000 overseas Vietnamese return to HCM City to visit relatives. Of that number, 1,500 do business in their localities.- Photo danviet At a workshop about the last 10 years of activities of the Overseas Vietnamese Association, Luong Bach Van, deputy head of the HCM City Committee of Fatherland Front, said that new clubs would be created for overseas Vietnamese. These would include a club for those from the same hometown, another for those who attended the same school and one for former overseas students. The association will also encourage former overseas students to keep in touch with institutes or schools where they attended. The association worked with local police and the city's grassroots-level Fatherland Front committees to compile a list of 50,000 families with overseas Vietnamese in the city. From 2007 to 2012, about 15,000 overseas Vietnamese return to HCM City to visit relatives. Of that number, 1,500 do business in their localities. At least 9,234 overseas Vietnamese have been provided with temporary resident cards in HCM City. The amount of remittances has increased year-by-year in the last 10 years, Van said. More than US$33 billion has been received, which has helped to stabilise the domestic economy. Of that amount, nearly VND50 billion ($2.3 million) has been used to support families and their businesses. More than VND70 billion ($3.3 million) has been donated to the city's charity programmes. The association works with the Department of Justice, divisions of immigration and taxation, as well as the trade and investment promotion centre to help overseas Vietnamese with resident registration, restoring Vietnamese citizenship, and buying houses and investing in Viet Nam. Source: VNS