Since 2018, the Belgian government is working with a network of stakeholders (migrants and diaspora groups, civil society, the National Bank) to build a better knowledge and receive some transparency on remittances sent from Belgium to the countries of origin in order to take appropriate measures to reduce the costs of remittances.
The Central Bank of Argentina started a process in 2015 to ease foreign exchange (FX) market regulations, thereby exerting a direct and far-reaching effect on the operation of international transfers and leading to a more flexible and competitive context to send and receive remittances to and from abroad. The new regulation allows Money Transfer Operators (MTOs) access to the FX market for transfers abroad without limits on the amount transferred.
Australia’s National Remittance Plan (NRP) aims to enable women and men to send money in a safe and cost effective way from Australia to, and within, key countries in the Indo-Pacific region.
A review of Australia’s AML/CTF regime was finalised in 2016, containing 84 recommendations to streamline, simplify and strengthen the regime, including recommendations that will impact the remittance sector. The Australian Government will consult with industry on the proposals to ensure the regime provides clarity and certainty for reporting entities.
The government of El Salvador, through the experience of linking migration with development seeks a productive, economic, social and cultural integration of migrants and their families; as well as the guarantee of their economic, social and cultural rights.
Bilateral agreements constitute an effective way to regulate migration flows and to foster development, both in the countries of origin and destination.
Sweden through the Swedish Consumer Agency, is missioned to provide a web-based information service for remittances. The service aims at creating transparency about different modes of remittances and the costs of these, thus increasing competition so that transfer costs can be reduced. Since 2018 additional resources have been added to the Consumer Agency to continue to provide and develop the service. The costs of sending remittances from Sweden have in some cases been relatively high.
The Global Forum on Remittances, Investment and Development (GFRID) brings together key decision makers, stakeholders and practitioners who are engaged in the field of remittances and migration for development.
IOM, through the ACP EU Migration Action, an initiative launched by the ACP Secretariat and funded by the European Union (EU), issued a publication on the main challenges that ACP countries face today in relation to remittances.
This case study forms part of a series of case studies on good practices, lessons learnt and recommendations extracted from the projects supported by the UN Joint Migration and Development Initiative (JMDI) to enhance migration management for local development. The experience of the JMDI shows that the most effective initiatives are anchored with local or regional authorities and carried out in a multi-stakeholder and participatory approach, including migrants and migrants’ associations or diaspora.