Over the past three years, the country has seen a sharp increase in remittances, from US$9 billion in 2011 to US$11 billion in 2013.

Head of the Ho Chi Minh City branch, State Bank of Vietnam, Nguyen Hoang Minh said Vietnam would remain in the list of  the world’s top 10 remittance recipients with US$12.1 billion, up about 10% compared to a year earlier.
 

Similarly, the Bank for Investment and Development (BIDV)’s also forecast a 10% increase in overseas remittance to US$12 billion by the end of this year.

Meanwhile, General Director of the Vietnam Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade (VietinBank) Le Duc Tho expected the figure to hit US$13 billion in 2014. The rising remittances, together with strong inflows of direct foreign investment (FDI) and official development assistance (ODA) will make Vietnam’s balance of payments more optimistic, he noted.

Tho also revealed that overseas remittances channeled through VietinBank mostly to Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and provinces having large numbers of people working abroad, accounted for 15-17% of the country’ total value.