Half of remittances channeled into business operations Incoming remittances last year stood at around US$12 billion with 46% of it going to production and business operations, nearly 36% to expenses and the remainder to savings and health services, said Vu Hong Nam, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and chairman of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs.   A staff member of DongA Bank transacts with MoneyGram money transfer service customers. Incoming remittances last year stood at around US$12 billion  Nam was speaking at a news briefing held in HCMC last Friday to introduce the Xuan Que Huong (Homeland Spring) 2015 program. There are around 4.5 million Vietnamese living and working in 109 countries and territories. Remittances sent from abroad grow around 10% a year and HCMC is the largest recipient of remittances, with around US$5 billion last year. The city has seen 72% of the amount invested in business operations and 22% in real estate, said Nam. “Remittances were mainly used to support relatives in the country but now recipients invest this money into business activities, thus fueling domestic production and creating more jobs,” Nam said, adding that according to statistics from the Central Institute for Economic Management, remittances were the second biggest source of capital in Vietnam after foreign direct investment (FDI) in 2007-2013 and even higher than official development assistance (ODA). Remittances from the United States account for 50% of the total, followed by Australia with 9%, Canada with 8.4%, Germany with 6%, France with 4% and other countries the remainder. Regarding to house ownership by overseas Vietnamese (OV), Nam said there are around 7,000 home ownership certificates issued for overseas Vietnamese and many others let their relatives hold such certificates. The number of overseas Vietnamese in 2004 was around 2.7 million and surged to 4.5 million last year. Each year, around 500,000 of them return Vietnam for Lunar New Year, or Tet, celebration. The Homeland Spring 2015 program on February 8, at 8 p.m., at Nha Rong Wharf in HCMC overseas Vietnamese singer Quang Le, an OV from the U.S., musician Nguyen Thien Dao from France and pianist Nguyen Van Anh from Australia taking part.     SGT