Vietnam "welcomes Viet Kieu, without discrimination because of their past, their opinions and their reason for leaving the country -- providing they take no action against the Vietnamese state now," Hoan said.
Expats last year set up 400 new companies in the southern business hub of Ho Chi Minh City, from where many of their families hail, said the city's Committee for Overseas Vietnamese, the state-run Vietnam News Agency reported.
Hoan said Vietnam benefited from Viet Kieu capital and remittances, believed to be in the billions of dollars, but stressed that "the biggest potential of overseas Vietnamese is their brain power."
Viet Kieu can also "become a bridge between domestic enterprises and the world market," he added, because they speak the languages and understand the legal systems and markets of their adopted countries.
Pham, of Canada, agreed that Viet Kieu can help Vietnam by bringing local goods to world markets, overcoming today's economic and cultural barriers.
"As soon as we can work together," he said, "we can break the boundaries."
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