The Germany Serbia Remittance Corridor

Serbia has become one of the largest remittance-recipient countries in the world. It is estimated that in 2004 Serbia received US$2.4 billion dollars in remittances from Serbian workers in Germany, the United States, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, and other countries. This amount represented 12 percent of Serbia's GDP. This report provides an overview of remittance flows from Germany to Serbia and analyzes why a large part of remittance transfers take place outside financial institutions. The study presents a series of recommendations on needed policy changes to facilitate the transfer of remittance flows from the informal channels to licensed or registered financial institutions, thereby maximizing the developmental impact of remittances, reducing remittances fees, improving data collection practices, and strengthening the regulation and supervision of the money transfer industry.

This report specifi cally presents the results of IOM’s mandated work, in particular, the volume, frequency, transfer mechanisms, use, determinants, and impact of remittances on transnational Serbian households receiving support from relatives in Switzerland. This report concludes with recommendations for ways in which these remittance fl ows and their development impacts can be enhanced.

This study is the first research work on remittances conducted in Nigeria and reveals the actual state of its remittance market. The report describes how United Kingdom residents of Nigerian origin transfer remittances home and how the funds are distributed to their beneficiaries in Nigeria. The review presents the remittance industry conditions existing in the UKNigeria remittance corridor at the origination and distribution stages of the transactions, and the intermediaries who facilitate the transfers. The report makes conclusions and compares these main findings with lessons from other corridors. The UK-Nigeria remittance corridor has an equal dominance of formal and informal remittance intermediaries. Although several formal financial institutions for transferring money exist in the UK, many people choose to send money informally. More collaboration between the UK and Nigeria is necessary to develop the remittance market, to encourage the use of formal channels, and to enhance the development potential. Among its benefits, the remittance country partnership (RCP) between UK and Nigeria aims to reduce the cost of remittance transfers. The Nigerian government is engaging its diaspora to help spur economic growth. This report recommends that each government focus on improving data collection at its end of the corridor and do more research to provide its policymakers and its private sector with accurate information.

In Malaysia, Indonesian migrants are showing an increasingly clear preference for informal transfer mechanisms compared to their counterparts in other countries. A little less than half of all Indonesian migrants overseas&—thought to be around 2 million&—are working in Malaysia. An increasing number of migrants are women, and the corridor is also marked by a high number of undocumented migrants. Despite the increasing flows of migrants, only about 10 percent of the estimated flow of remittances into Indonesia from Malaysia is transferred through the formal system. The extent of the preference fo.

Migrants have long faced unwarranted constraints to sending money to family members and relatives in their home countries, among them costly fees and commissions, inconvenient formal banking hours, and inefficient domestic banking services that delay final payment to the beneficiaries. Yet such remittances are perhaps the largest source of external finance in developing countries. Officially recorded remittance flows to developing countries exceeded US$125 billion in 2004, making them the second largest source of development finance after foreign direct investment. This book demonstrates that governments in developing countries increasingly recognize the importance of remittance flows and are quickly addressing these constraints.

Migrant workers routinely send small sums back to their families, often a crucial lifeline for their survival. But sending money across countries for these low income people is not easy and often very expensive and risky. Better regulation and supervision of these payment channels can make the process easier to access and more secure.

Several economies in the Caribbean region, especially from the lower-income group, are highly dependent on remittances. Between 1991 and 2006, the combined flows of total remittances reaching the Caribbean have averaged almost 17 percent annual growth, surpassing US$6 billion in 2005 and overtaking the region’s total ODA and FDI inflows. In addition, remittances represent more than 20 percent of the domestic gross domestic product (GDP) in some Caribbean countries and have played a significant role in lessening both balance of payment deficits and the impact of natural disasters to which the region is particularly vulnerable. This study undertakes an analysis of the various dynamics underlying the Canada-Caribbean remittance corridor, including Caribbean migration issues and diaspora dynamics, remittance market landscapes, and regulatory frameworks. The study is intended to assist Canadian and Caribbean national authorities to sustain the continued growth and competitiveness of their remittance industries, while protecting them abuse by criminals. The study particularly emphasizes continued policy improvements in each country’s regulatory framework to improve financial sector development and to enhance poverty reduction.