$5.5 billion remittance flows to Ho Chi Minh City in first nine months

Lenh noted that this figure did not include remittances transferred through credit institutions. If included, remittances to the city would be even higher.

Trinh Hoai Nam, CEO of Vietcombank Remittance Company, said the company handled $1.8 billion in payments in the first nine months of 2024, up 40 per cent from the previous year. The increase was attributed to remittance flows from Vietnamese workers in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. Meanwhile, remittances from the EU and US are on the decline.

Ho Chi Minh City is the largest recipient of remittances in Vietnam every year, accounting for half of the country's remittances. Last year, remittances to the city were 2.7 times higher than total foreign direct investment and equal to about 14 per cent of the city's regional GDP.

According to Lenh, it is vital to have policies in place to continue to draw in remittances, improve the investment climate, and enhance service quality for remittance payments.

"The funds should be used efficiently to promote production, business, trade, and services through financial instruments such as local government bonds, investment funds, or securitisation. It should be in line developing a green economy, a digital economy, high-quality education, healthcare, and other fields that are of interest to overseas Vietnamese for investment," he said.

Remittances to Ho Chi Minh City surged nearly 20 per cent in the first half of the year, reaching approximately $5.2 billion.

Despite many countries facing economic slowdowns and high unemployment, remittances to Ho Chi Minh City experienced an upward trend in the first half of 2023.

The country is estimated to have received a rise in remittances from overseas Vietnamese people in 2023, with Ho Chi Minh City taking the lead.