The amount of inward remittances to Vietnam by the end of this year is expected to rise to $12 billion, a record rate following the trend set in 2011-2013.

During the last 3 years, the amount of inward remittances continued to increase from $9 billion in 2011 to $10 billion in 2012 and $11 billion in 2013.

According to Nguyen Hoang Minh, deputy director of the branch of the State Bank of Vietnam in HCMC, in 2014, Vietnam will continue to be one of the 10 countries receiving the biggest volumes of remittances in the world with the annual growth rate expected to rise 10 percent over last year, reaching around $12.1 billion.

Similarly, the forecast of the research center under the Bank for Investment and Development of Vietnam (BIDV) has also stated that in 2014, inward remittances will increase by about 10 percent year on year.

In a recent briefing, Le Duc Tho, General Director of Joint Stock Commercial Bank for Industry and Trade of Vietnam (VietinBank), said he is expecting that remittances to Vietnam this year will reach $12-13 billion.

The amount, and a surplus in balance of trade, plus capitals from foreign direct investment (FDI) and official development assistance (ODA), will continue to create a state of the balance of payments which is relatively good for Vietnam, he added.

He said VietinBank is accounting for 15-17 percent market share of the remittance market in Vietnam, focusing on big cities such as Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City and other localities where the amount of local employees working abroad are on a rise.

Meanwhile, according to information from HCMC authorities, the amount of inward remittances through the banking system of the city is estimated at $ 4.4 billion in the first 11 months of this year.

Thus, by the end of this year, $12 billion is the number of remittances that many organizations and individuals have forecast to be achievable.

Vietnam received inward remittances worth $11 billion in 2013, and 50 percent of the sum was dedicated to recipients in Ho Chi Minh City, said Le Hoang Quan, chairman of HCMC People’s Committee.

With Vietnamese people living overseas and guest workers from 101 countries and territories sending home $11 billion last year, Vietnam ranks ninth in the top ten countries receiving the largest amounts of remittances in 2013, according to the World Bank.

The money transferred via banks in Ho Chi Minh City topped $4.8 billion in 2013, up 21 percent from 2012, the city’s chairman added in a meeting with more than 700 overseas Vietnamese citizens and many of the city’s top leaders last year.

In 1993-2014, the total amount of inward remittances reached $96.66 billion. With an average amount of inbound remittances hitting about $4.4 billion per year, they contributed about 6.8 percent of GDP of the country in the corresponding period, according to chinhphu.vn, the official website of the Vietnam’s Government.