Over the last fifty years, Vietnam has experienced significant outmigration closely linked with the nation's social, political and economic fortunes. Many of those who left in the various waves of migration have been highly skilled, including the most recent flows of Vietnamese overseas students. Losing highly skilled human capital has been a major concern for a nation like Vietnam, which has been transitioning from a centrally planned socialist economy to a market economy, and has the ambition to become a modern, industrialized economy by 2020 (World Bank 2012). However, in recent years, there has been less concern surrounding a ‘brain drain’. This has arisen from the belief that there are in fact many advantages associated with being a ‘sending country’, including the financial benefits of remittances, the cultural engagement with diaspora communities, and the benefits of return migration (Gribble 2008). The rapid development and widespread availability of information communication technologies (ICTs) has facilitated the formation, growth and maintenance of diaspora communities’ transnational social networks. In addition, both traditional and social media provide opportunities for nations such as Vietnam to harness their diaspora's skills, knowledge, finances and networks in order to boost local social and economic development.

This chapter examines the complex relationship that Vietnam has with Vietnamese overseas communities. It starts with a review of existing literature on Vietnam's major migration trends and groups since the reunification of the country, including war- related Việt Kiều, overseas Vietnamese students and temporary migrant workers. It then discusses the current practices and approaches to harnessing the diaspora. A review of how some other Asian nations with large diaspora populations have engaged with their diaspora via social media is included as it provides some useful implications for Vietnam to develop stronger and more sustained connections with its diaspora. The chapter concludes by considering the role of social media and the recent developments in facilitating constructive dialogues between Vietnam and its diaspora via social media.

There have been three main phases of outmigration in Vietnam. The first phase was the outflow of Vietnamese refugees, including thuyền nhân (boat people), during the Vietnam war and the post- reunification period.