by Trinh Anh Duc
13-10-2001
The Committee for Overseas Vietnamese (COV) opened its Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate Nationals or TOKTEN website on the Internet, on October 10, 2001. Information provided by the website, built jointly by the COV and the TOKTEN Global Unit of the United Nations Development Programme, UNDP, in Vietnamese and English is available at: www.tokten-vn.org.vn.
It is estimated that there are approximately two and a half million overseas Vietnamese living in about 100 countries around the world, primarily in the U.S., France, Australia and Canada. Given this and the growing interest of overseas Vietnamese in returning their homeland, TOKTEN has a rich pool of highly talented and experienced professionals from which to draw. The Government of Vietnam recognises the potential resource available in this expatriate community and wants to create appropriate conditions to attract the overseas Vietnamese community to make their contribution to the country's social and economic development.
The TOKTEN programme was first introduced in Viet Nam in 1991. Two projects that included TOKTEN recruitment have been completed.
The first TOKTEN project focused mainly in the area of science and technology. A list of the receiving organisations includes the Institute for Scientific and Technological Strategic Studies, Institute for Medical Equipment, Ben Tre Committee for Sciences, Institute for Computer Science and the Hanoi Polytechnic.
The main activities under the second project included 21 short-term business training courses (mini MBAs) for nearly 700 participants, and "business clinics" providing management advice. By the end of June 1998, 51 volunteers had been recruited under the project, including 20 TOKTEN consultants, of whom ten were from the USA, eight from Canada, one from Australia and one from Switzerland.
Overseas Vietnamese now can assess diversified information about their homeland through Vietnamese-launched websites on the internet. Those who wish to be provided with the Party and Government's line and policies can access Viet Nam News Agency, VNA, website which was launched in 1998.