USA Today Quotes Sr. Fellow Sidel

Mark Sidel, TPI Senior Fellow and Professor of Law at the University of Iowa, was quoted this week in a USA Today article entitled, “More Vietnamese abroad send money back to their homeland.”

The article discusses the growing role that remittances – funds sent to a country from individuals living abroad – play in the national economy, and also supports a white paper that Sidel authored for TPI with support from the Hewlett Foundation in May 2007 entitled, “Vietnamese-American Diaspora Philanthropy to Vietnam.”  The paper, which was the first formal research paper on Vietnamese-American diasporic giving back to Vietnam, provides an in-depth look at the history of the Vietnam diaspora and the role that remittances have played in the country over the last fifty years.  

Currently, remittances make up about 8% of Vietnam’s annual GDP, with much of the money going to support immediate and extended families and businesses.  However, as Mark Sidel explains, not all checks sent from abroad are made out to friends and relatives.  A growing number of remittances also fund charitable causes, especially those related to health care and education.  Although the global economic downturn reduced the amount of remittances to Vietnam, they remain an important asset to the country’s economy.  As Sidel explains, “Remittances and investment have helped to provide several billion in inflows to Vietnam each year...There’s no reason to think it won’t grow.”