According to the banking authorities, the amount of overseas remittances from overseas Vietnamese has grown drastically this year.

Nguyen Ngoc Lam, the Deputy Director of the State Bank of Viet Nam's Foreign Exchange Management Department, said "Overseas remittances to Viet Nam in the first half of this year reached about US $5 billion, up from last year $300 million”. By the end of 2008, it is expected that remittances to Vietnam will reach $8 billion.

Overseas remittances in the past have mostly come from Vietnamese living in Australia, the United States, and Europe, but today, more remittances are being transferred home by Vietnamese living in the Middle East and Asia.

Director of Eastern Asia Overseas Remittance Company of Eastern Asia Bank, Tran Van Truny, reports that the remittance market has grown recently. The East Asia Company has transferred US $631 million overseas in the first half of 2008. This is 52.6 percent of the target for the entire year.

The Bank of Foreign Trade of Viet Nam (Vietcombank) has transferred US $730 million in overseas remittances. This is an increase of 25 percent over the same time last year.

The Viet Nam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Agribank) has transferred $430 million, up 50 percent from the same period last year.

Sai Gon Thuong Tin Commercial Bank (Sacombank) has transferred $840 million during the same period. This is expected to reach the $930 million mark by the end of the year, which is an increase of 40 per cent over the last year.

Another deputy general director of a commercial bank said, "Overseas remittances from new markets are expected to grow in the future."

Nguyen Thu Ha, Deputy General Director of Vietcombank, said "Overseas remittances were sent to relatives but also for investment in businesses, real estate and the stock markets."

As remittances rise in Vietnam, this should give a long needed boost to the economy.