Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen:

It is an honour to be here today and I am grateful to
Secretary-General Supachai for the kind invitation to participate
in this distinguished gathering. I should like to make three points
very briefly:

1. Migration as a Driver of the Global Economy: Setting
the Scene

Today, we live in a world on the move. Numerically, there are
more people on the move than at any time in recorded history: 214
million international migrants and 740 million internal migrants.
In other words, in a world of seven billion inhabitants, one in
every seven of us is in some form of migratory status.

The information and communications revolutions have fuelled
these migratory movements. An intending migrant knows at any one
time what is going on in any part of the world:

• More than 247 billion emails are transmitted every day.
• Some 1.9 billion persons now have access to the internet (in
  contrast to only 390 million people in the year 2000).
• Facebook now has more than 500 million subscribers; and
• Twitter has some 200 million users; and both are growing.

While these social media advances have accelerated human
movement, it is demographic and labor market trends and widening
North-South disparities that will ensure that mass migration will
continue well into this Millennium. These realities will ensure
that migrant remittances continue to play an important role in the
global economy.

Remittances did not start with the modern era. They are by no
means a new phenomenon. Remittances are linked intrinsically to
migration — the world's oldest development strategy."
Migration is the most powerful manifestation of an individual's
desire for development — the right to leave one's place of
birth or abode in search of new opportunities and a better
life.

During the 19th and 20th centuries — years before becoming
migrant destinations — European countries were heavily
dependent upon remittances sent from their emigrants in the so-call
"New World." In 1901, e.g. Italy was the first European country to
enact legislation to protect remittances; and in 1960, Spain was
the first country to sign an international treaty (with Argentina)
to lower the cost of receiving remittance transfers.

What is perhaps new, is the acknowledgement, on the part of
governments, international organizations, NGOs and academic
researchers alike, that over the past decade or so, migrant
remittances are one of the drivers of the global economy;
particularly so in relation to developing countries.

In today's world, consider the following:

• Remittances are typically two to three times larger than all
  bilateral and multilateral Overseas Development Aid (ODA); about as
  much as all global Foreign Direct Investment (FDI); and, in some
  cases, remittances account for up to 30 percent of annual GDP for a
  dozen or more countries.
• Remittances are resilient to economic fluctuations –
  remittances, e.g., fell only 5.5 percent in 2009 in contrast to
  forecasts of a 9 percent decline, and actually registered a quick
  recovery in 2010 (although this varied significantly from region to
  region, with China and India's gains somewhat skewing the overall
  result).
• Remittances contribute importantly to the economic health of
  developing countries. For example, in Moldova, almost one third of
  all households receive remittances; this represents approximately
  60 percent of household income;
• Remittances percolate quickly to the grassroots level –
  allowing households to purchase food, healthcare, shelter and
  education – and thereby cover the most basic of needs and
  provide livelihood opportunities.

II. "Beyond Remittances," or "Remittances
Plus"

But remittances can – and do – do more, as you the
experts, know from your own experience. After all, migrant
remittances are private financial flows.

For this reason, IOM pioneered the idea of "mainstreaming" or
integrating migration and remittances into develop planning. In
this regard, IOM with several of its UN partners in the Global
Migration Group (GMG), produced a Handbook, entitled Mainstreaming
Migration into Development Planning. This GMG Handbook was launched
last November at the Global Forum on Migration and Development
(GFMD) in Mexico.

The handbook provides useful tools to incorporate migration into
development planning through the formulation of strategic goals and
priorities; the identification of key partners and beneficiaries;
and the development of consultative mechanisms and institutional
structures.

You, the experts at this meeting, will no doubt review many
options for the management of remittances and highlight those that
you consider to be "best practices."

Beyond the immediate impact of remittances on migrant households
in countries of origin, the challenge is to influence positively
the macro-economic environment.

In this regard, one enduring question for policy makers is that
of creating incentives for migrants and their families to invest
"surplus money" that remains after daily expenses to serve as a
multiplier for development.

Innovative diaspora programmes can effectively leverage the
migrant's contribution with public resources. The Mexican "3 for 1"
("tres por uno") programme matches each dollar of remittance money
sent by a diaspora member through dedicated Mexican Home Town
Association abroad with a dollar each from the municipal, state and
federal governments in Mexico. This arrangement empowers migrants
and promotes local community.

IOM has helped create organized remittance transfer mechanisms
that enabled migrants to secure their transfers, reduce the
transaction fees paid, and pool their resources so as to maximize
their impact. In Tajikistan, e.g., such a scheme is being used to
develop sustainable livelihoods through micro-credit schemes,
infrastructure investment and education initiatives.

But the contributions of migrants go far beyond the economic of
monetary dimension. There are also what we refer to as "social
remittances" – migrants' skills, knowledge and networks
– these are perhaps even more valuable in promoting
development of their countries and communities or origin. Migrants
represent untapped economic and social capital.

For example, IOM's Migration for Development in Africa (MIDA)
programme provides a rich array of means for diaspora members to
become involved in home countries and share expertise –
whether (a) through establishing exchange programmes in public
administration; or (b) university training; or (c) by facilitating
the return of doctors and other health care workers to Africa.
Diaspora mobilization for development also represents one of the
most effective means to address developing countries legitimate
concerns about "brain drain," replacing it with "brain
circulation."

To support development with "social remittances," our goal
should be that when migrants return home, either permanently or
temporarily, they do so either with (a) new or improved skills; or
(b) capital to invest.

III. Remittances as an Integral Element of Migration
Policy

My first two points were (a) today's unprecedented movement of
people is best understood in the context of globalization (even
though population movements have been largely neglected in the
globalization debate); and (b) remittances go far beyond the simple
transfer of fund even those these constitute one of the largest
cash flows in today's economy.

My third and final point logically follows these two, namely
that remittances, to make a maximum contribution to development,
need to be part of a government's overall migration policy. That is
to say, what is needed is a ‘whole of government" and "whole
of society" approach, one that uses all the options available,
including a liberal migration policy and visa regime, societal
integration, circular migration schemes, and a recognition that
temporary migration alone is unlikely to satisfy labor market
needs.

You as experts will want to consider whether it is indeed
through a temporary migration framework that one must seek to
remove barriers to improve flows of remittances. It would be
important to ensure that permanent migration opportunities not be
seen as the preserve of highly-skilled workers with temporary work
contracts being set aside for the lower-skilled workers.

There is, in any case, agreement that for remittances to flow
around the world, it must first of all be possible for migrants at
all skill levels to find and access work opportunities abroad.
Properly established and managed, labor migration programmes would
appear to be an essential pre-condition.

Thank you.