Proposal to Enhance Overseas Vietnamese Resources and Improve Effectiveness of People-to-People Diplomacy

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The discussion session, themed “Enhancing the effectiveness of people-to-people diplomacy and expanding international cooperation to contribute to national construction and defense in the era of national rise,” was chaired by Le Thi Thuy, Member of the Party Central Committee, Vice President of the Central Committee of the VFF, and President of the Vietnam Women’s Union, along with Hoang Cong Thuy, Vice President of the Central Committee of the VFF.

Attendees included members of the Presidium and the Central Committee of the VFF’s 10th tenure; representatives of VFF member organizations; officials of the VFF Central Committee; overseas Vietnamese delegates; and delegations from provinces and cities nationwide.

Delegates at the Discussion Center No. 4. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

Promoting the strategic pillar role of people-to-people diplomacy

In her opening remarks, Le Thi Thuy stated that people-to-people diplomacy activities and affairs related to overseas Vietnamese hold particularly important significance in the Front’s work. They serve as practical means to expand the great national unity bloc, strengthen friendship between the Vietnamese people and people around the world, and garner the support and solidarity of international friends. At the same time, they help mobilize the tremendous resources of overseas Vietnamese communities for the cause of national construction and defense.

According to her, as the country enters a new era, higher demands are being placed on people-to-people diplomacy and overseas Vietnamese affairs, requiring continued innovation in both content and methods toward greater practicality, professionalism, modernization, and effectiveness.

Speaking at the discussion session, Phan Anh Son, President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations, said that alongside Party diplomacy and State diplomacy, people-to-people diplomacy has actively contributed to the effective implementation of external activities led by Party and State leaders, while also strengthening solidarity and friendship between the Vietnamese people and peoples of other countries.

Phan Anh Son suggested that greater clarity is needed regarding the specific achievements of people-to-people diplomacy within the VFF system and its member organizations in recent years, particularly in areas and sectors where Party diplomacy and State diplomacy face difficulties in direct engagement or where implementation remains challenging.

President of the Vietnam Union of Friendship Organizations Phan Anh Son speaks at the discussion session. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

According to him, the Resolution of the 14th National Party Congress identified people-to-people diplomacy as a strategic pillar in Vietnam’s comprehensive, modern, and professional diplomacy. This requires continued improvement of coordination mechanisms, personnel training, enhanced cooperation, and appropriate resource allocation for people-to-people diplomacy throughout the entire system.

He also noted that aid and support from foreign non-governmental organizations alone averaged approximately USD 240-245 million annually over the past five years, demonstrating the substantial potential of people-to-people diplomacy in mobilizing international resources for development and social welfare.

Regarding overseas Vietnamese affairs, Phan Anh Son emphasized the need for more concrete approaches to promote the role of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and experts. In particular, he suggested quantifying the effectiveness of their participation in advisory councils, programs, and specific projects, rather than limiting efforts to general policy orientations.

Many delegates agreed that people-to-people diplomacy should shift decisively from friendship exchanges toward substantive cooperation associated with socio-economic development, safeguarding sovereignty, and maintaining a peaceful and stable environment for national development.

Nguyen Chi Thanh, Permanent Vice Chairman of the VFF Committee of Quang Ninh, said that Quang Ninh Province has proactively expanded and deepened cooperative relations with localities in China, particularly the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. The two sides have signed five meeting minutes and 11 cooperation memoranda across various fields, laying the foundation for promoting people-to-people exchanges and local cooperation. Twinning models between residential communities along the border have continued to be maintained, contributing to coordinated efforts in safeguarding sovereignty, maintaining security and social order, supporting economic development, protecting the environment, and promptly addressing grassroots-level issues.

According to Nguyen Chi Thanh, people-to-people diplomacy must be closely linked with socio-economic development tasks, national defense, and security consolidation, while also promoting digital technology applications and innovating external information work in a more modern and effective manner.

Lo Giang Pao, Deputy Head of the Ethnic Affairs Advisory Council under the Central Committee of the VFF, proposed strengthening support mechanisms for exemplary individuals, especially in ethnic minority and border areas. He also called for improving the quality of information work, enhancing skills training, and creating favorable conditions for outstanding individuals to participate more deeply in Front activities at the grassroots level.

Practical mechanisms needed to harness overseas Vietnamese resources

A key topic that drew significant attention during the discussion session was how to effectively leverage the resources of the overseas Vietnamese community, particularly intellectuals, experts, and entrepreneurs.

Phan Bich Thien, President of the Vietnamese Women’s Forum in Europe and President of the Vietnamese Women’s Association in Hungary speaks at the discussion session. (Photo: Dinh Hoa)

Phan Bich Thien, President of the Vietnamese Women’s Forum in Europe and President of the Vietnamese Women’s Association in Hungary, stated that culture serves as an effective form of “soft power” for promoting the country’s image and connecting overseas Vietnamese communities. Through activities honoring the ao dai, cultural heritage, and writing competitions for overseas Vietnamese women, love for the homeland and the Vietnamese language has naturally spread to younger generations.

However, according to her, more concrete mechanisms are needed to effectively harness overseas Vietnamese resources, particularly to support overseas members of the VFF in connecting with counterpart organizations in their host countries. She also stressed the need to innovate approaches to engaging younger generations of overseas Vietnamese through digital platforms and multilingual communication to create attractive spaces that encourage them to contribute their knowledge and expertise to the country.

Having worked in the Russia for more than 40 years, Nguyen Quoc Sy, Permanent Vice President of the Association of Vietnamese Universities and Colleges, noted that there are currently around 600,000 intellectuals among the more than six million overseas Vietnamese worldwide. This represents a tremendous resource living in countries with advanced science and technology sectors.

Nevertheless, according to Nguyen Quoc Sy, although Vietnam has spoken for many years about the potential of overseas Vietnamese intellectuals, the actual number participating in domestic science and technology projects remains limited.

He proposed that the VFF should play a core role in bringing together overseas Vietnamese intellectuals and experts to contribute to science and technology projects, as well as the country’s industrialization and modernization efforts. At the same time, he called for expanding policies to attract foreign experts and scientists to work and contribute to Vietnam on a long-term basis.

Concluding the discussion session, Hoang Cong Thuy stated that participants unanimously highly appreciated the achievements of the VFF’s people-to-people diplomacy activities in recent years, while also recommending continued innovation in both content and operational methods toward greater practicality, professionalism, flexibility, and effectiveness.

Delegates also recommended further strengthening external information work and promoting the image of Vietnam and its people, while proactively providing official information, spreading positive narratives, and promptly countering false, distorted, and divisive information aimed at undermining the great national unity bloc.

Many participants proposed that the VFF continue improving mechanisms and policies to more strongly mobilize the resources of overseas Vietnamese communities, especially intellectuals, experts, scientists, entrepreneurs, and overseas Vietnamese youth, in policy consultation, knowledge transfer, investment, innovation, and the promotion of Vietnamese culture to the world.

Opinions expressed at the discussion center shared the common view that, in the new context, people-to-people diplomacy activities must continue to undergo strong innovation toward greater professionalism, substance, and modernization, while also building sufficiently robust mechanisms to effectively mobilize international resources and the overseas Vietnamese community for national development.

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