Authorities work to ensure benefits for overseas national contributors

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung addresses the meeting in Vientiane on April 19

Overseas representative agencies and authorities of Vietnam are working to ensure benefits are provided for overseas national contributors under a recent Government decree.

The General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People’s Army and the Vietnamese Embassy in Laos held a meeting in Vientiane on April 19 to look into the implementation of benefits and policies for overseas national contributors under Decree No.102/2018/ND-CP, issued by the Government in July last year.

According to reports by the 63 provinces and centrally run cities as well as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, there are about 40,000 overseas national contributors, with some 29,600 still alive and 10,400 others already deceased. They include those who contributed to the revolution, took part in resistance wars, and were involved in international missions.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Laos Nguyen Ba Hung said that since the issuance of the decree and the defence ministry’s implementation guidance, the embassy and general consulates of Vietnam have carried out activities to disseminate the Party and State’s policy to the expatriate community in Laos.

He said it is an important policy in targeting overseas national contributors. However, as this is the first time such a policy has been carried out, there are certain difficulties in the implementation.

The meeting aimed to provide information about this policy to overseas national contributors, as well as offer detailed guidance for expatriates on how to complete relevant procedures. It also looked to give implementation instructions to the embassy and general consulates so that the policy can be properly carried out and meet the needs of Vietnamese people in Laos, Hung added.