OVs, foreign friends give helping hands to storm victims

President of the Vietnam Fatherland Central Committee Đỗ Văn Chiến (R) receives token of fund raised among OVs abroad for storm-hit people from Deputy Foreign Minister and Chairwoman of the State Committee for OV Affairs Lê Thị Thu Hằng. VNA/VNS Photo

HÀ NỘI - President of the Vietnam Fatherland (VFF) Central Committee Đỗ Văn Chiến on September 20 received support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, diplomatic missions, and foreign enterprises to people affected by recent Typhoon Yagi and its subsequent floods in some northern localities.

The aid included VNĐ4 billion (US$162,568) from the Chinese Business Association in Vietnam, nearly BHT2 million ($60,740) from the Thai Government, $1 million from India's Adani Group, VNĐ2 billion from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and VNĐ19.3 billion from the Vietnamese associations in Angola, Belarus, Laos, Thailand, Japan, Russia, Australia, Cambodia, China, Mongolia, USA, Hong Kong (China), Macau (China), the Czech Republic, and Ukraine.

Addressing the ceremony, Chiến said he was moved when receiving the support for the storm victims, and expressed gratitude to the donors, pledging to use the fund to directly assist the affected communities in an effective, transparent, and open manner under the supervision of the people and society.

According to Chiến, Typhoon Yagi hit 26 localities in the northern region, especially Lào Cai, Yên Bái, Phú Thọ, Hải Phòng, and Quảng Ninh. It killed and left missing 356 people and injured thousands of others, while destroying tens of thousands of houses, and hundreds of thousands of hectares of crops.

Tens of thousands of officers and soldiers from armed forces have been mobilised to support affected people to overcome the storm's consequences.

He said that the VFF had called for support from businesses, collectives, and individuals at home and abroad, as well as international friends for the affected communities.

He cited a preliminary report showing that 10 days after the call, the VFF Central Committee's Relief Board received more than VNĐ1.62 trillion from donors, and VNĐ1.03 billion from the amount had been distributed to 26 localities.

He stressed that in hard times, the tradition of solidarity and mutual support of Vietnamese people had been promoted strongly.

Chiến said that currently, fund-raising activities had been continuously carried out among the overseas Vietnamese community. As of September 20, over VNĐ31 billion had been collected, of which VNĐ21 billion has been sent home.

Earlier on September 13, the State Committee for Overseas Vietnamese Affairs handed over more than VNĐ600 million to the VFF Central Committee. VNS