Tan Son Nhat Airport sets up customs area exclusively for ‘Viet Kieu’

The Tan Son Nhat Airport Customs Sub-department in Ho Chi Minh City has set up a customs clearance area intended for ‘Viet Kieu’, overseas Vietnamese, only.
The area, including instruction desks and priority customs clearance counters, was put into operation yesterday (January 10) and will be maintained until February 24.
The new customs facility is to serve customs clearance for overseas Vietnamese returning to their homeland to celebrate Tet (Lunar New Year), which will fall on February 10, the sub-department said.
In addition, volunteers from the Communist Youth Unions of the agency, the airport, and the Tan Son Nhat Ground Trading Enterprise, will give Viet Kieu assistance related to customs declaration, luggage and goods.
Last year, total remittances sent to Vietnam by overseas Vietnamese were about US$9.2-9.5 billion, lower than the expected amount of $11 billion, but higher than the 2011 figure of $9 billion, or 10 percent of the country’s GDP that year.
The annual growth of such remittances is 10-15 percent.
According to a recent report by the World Bank, total inward remittance in developing countries in 2012 amounted to US$406 billion, up 6.5 percent from 2011.
India topped the list with $70 billion, followed by China with $66 billion, the Philippines and Mexico with $24 billion each, and Nigeria with $21 billion.
With the above-mentioned remittances in 2012, Vietnam ranked seventh on the list.