Vietnam is set to be one of the top remittance receivers in the world in 2018, with Vietnamese living and working overseas expected to send home a whopping US$15.9 billion, an official told a press conference in Hanoi on Thursday.

Remittances to Vietnam topped $11.8 billion in 2016 and $13.8 billion USD, Luong Thanh Nghi deputy head of the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs, told reporters, citing statistics from the World Bank.

Last year Vietnam was among the world’s top ten remittance receivers, accounting for 2.5 percent of the total global remittances.

The Southeast Asian country is on track to retain the position this year with the estimated $15.9 billion remittance.

According to the same World Bank statistics, India will cement its post as the world's top recipient of remittances in 2018, with overseas Indian channeling $80 billion back home.

India is followed by China ($67 billion), Mexico and the Philippines, $34 billion each, and Egypt ($26 billion).

Global remittances, which include flows to high-income countries, are projected to grow by 10.3 percent to $689 billion in 2018, according to the global lender.

Vietnam is hosting a series of big events to welcome Vietnamese expatriates visiting their homeland later this month and in January, on the eve of the Lunar New Year, or Tet, which falls in mid-February, the Vietnam News Agency quoted Nghi as saying at Thursday’s press conference.

A conference on connections between overseas Vietnamese and localities in Vietnam will take place in the north-central provinces of Nghe An and Ha Tinh from December 26 to 29.

On January 26, 2019, the “Xuan Que Huong” (Spring in Homeland) 2019 program will take place in Hanoi, providing a platform for Vietnamese expats to share their aspirations and honor those who have contributed to the homeland’s development.

Some 4.5 million Vietnamese now live and work in 103 countries and territories worldwide, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

They form an indispensable part of the nation and play an important role in intensifying friendship between Vietnam and the rest of the world.

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