Restrictions lifted on overseas returnees and other foreigners HANOI - Some commercial and visa restrictions on overseas Vietnamese are being lifted to compensate for the sluggish mobilisation of domestic capital and to arrest plummeting foreign investment. Suspicious of the loyalty of the more than two million who fled overseas during the 1970s and 1980s, Hanoi has for years refused to acknowledge the nationality of Vietnamese born in Vietnam who now live in the United States, Canada, Australia and France. That official attitude may have been a reflection of a wider disdain in which Vietnamese have frequently condemned returnees as arrogant, condescending and disrespectful of the country's social and cultural conventions. "They look down on us as peasants," said one middle-aged man from Hanoi. "But we are the ones that remained, suffered hardship and still struggle to develop our country," he said. It is perhaps not surprising that overseas Vietnamese have long complained of unfair treatment at the hands of their compatriots who remained in Vietnam. Viet Kieu, as overseas Vietnamese are known, say their goodwill towards Vietnam is frequently abused and they are forced to confront all the restrictions on asset ownership and discriminatory pricing which irritate other expatriates. But despite their often tense relationship with local Vietnamese, Viet Kieu last year officially repatriated almost US$1 billion in foreign currency to relatives and, according to Nguyen Viet Thuan of the Committee for Overseas Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh City, and another US$1.5 billion through unofficial channels. In addition, overseas Vietnamese invested $225 million in 57 projects during the 10 years to 1998 and another $8.4 million last year. The significance of those figures, however, seems to have now been recognised and the animosity directed against overseas Vietnamese is rapidly transforming into a series of policy changes which should further encourage the flow of their money into Vietnam. An edict declaring that Viet Kieu would pay half the previous price charged for internal flights on the national carrier is thought to be a significant contributor to boosting arrivals of Vietnamese from the US, Australia and France to more than 50,000 ahead of this year's Tet New Year festival. Today sees a relaxation of controls and the scrapping of fees and taxes on the transfer of cash into Vietnam by overseas Vietnamese and other foreigners, while Viet Kieu now need only pay local rates for telecoms and other services. By Huw Watkin - South China Morning Post - March 10, 2000.