HARNESSING THE DEVELOPMENT POTENTIALS OF REMITTANCES AMONG OVERSEAS FILIPINOS AND THEIR FAMILIES

I O M N E W S R E L E A S E

ITALY (21 May 2009) –Government representatives from the Philippines and Italy met members of the Filipino diaspora to discuss ways to enhance the development potential of remittances.

Representatives from international organizations, NGOs and the private sector also attended the two-day meeting, which ended yesterday in Rome. The meeting aimed to identify best practices that would encourage the investment of remittances in activities to stimulate growth and employment in the Philippines.

As part of the event, preliminary findings of an on-going IOM research project on remittance flows between Italy and the Philippines were presented.

The research shows that 72% of Filipinos in Italy send money home on a monthly basis, with 63% saying they remit on average 350 Euros per month.

Forty percent of the respondents said they had been sending money home for more than 10 years, with women on average remitting more money than men.

When asked about their future plans, 55% of respondents said they wanted to bring their families to Italy, although an overwhelming majority (91%) said they planned to retire in the Philippines.

Some 26% of the interviewees confirmed they had invested money in rotating and savings associations locally known as paluwagans and a further 38% had invested in cooperatives and in rural banks.

The 8.73 million Overseas Filipinos remitted USD 16.4 billion in 2008, which represents 9.7% of the gross domestic product.

However, the global financial crisis has led to a reduction in the number of Filipinos deployed abroad and to a slower growth rate of remittance inflow, with a 2% recorded growth in February 2009 compared to 13% annual growth recorded in 2008.

This event is part of an EC-funded programme carried out by IOM Manila to improve the knowledge of remittance corridors, enhance the development potential of remittances through inter-regional dialogue through the setting up of pilot projects in Southeast Asia and Europe.

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