Workers' remittance is one of the most thriving sources of earning in the developing countries. But this prospect is often faced with uncertainties, and despite the current growth at global level, most of these countries are concerned over a sudden slowing down in the momentum of remittance. Such a fear is aptly weighed because there are countries in the developing world, Bangladesh included, whose earnings from expatriate remittances are far larger than their national forex reserve.
In the event of such a setback, poorer countries would find it extremely daunting to finance a host of their development programmes, besides facing problems in making import payments.
World Bank's Migration and Development Brief on global migration and remittances, however, presents a positive picture and projects a rise in the influx of migrant workers in near future. According to the World Bank (WB) brief, remittances will soar by around 9.0 per cent to more than half a trillion dollars by 2016. The brief brings to light another interesting scenario that shows that overseas remittances in some countries have grown stupendously to outpace many sectors of the economy and have reached as high as almost half of their gross domestic product (GDP). The country to gain most is Tajikistan. In 2012, the share of remittance amounted to around 48 per cent of the country's GDP. Growth of remittances, according to the brief, has been robust in all regions except Latin America and the Caribbean, where the growth declined due mainly to recession in Europe and the US.
The WB brief provides an analytical picture of migrant remittances in the developing world. Remittance from Bangladeshi expatriates was projected to be $15 billion in 2013 which, latest figures show, has fallen far short, believed to be due to unstable political climate at home coupled with government's failure to tap available opportunities for job-seekers abroad. This, no doubt, is worrying as, according to the brief, Bangladesh is listed among four countries whose remittances are larger than their national foreign exchange reserves. The WB brief said, all these countries have instituted various incentives for attracting remittances, which clearly underscores the crucial role overseas remittances play in these economies. The brief shows India as the largest recipient of expat remittances followed by China. Taken together, these two were expected to receive a staggering $131 billion last year. Countries next to India and China are the Philippines, Mexico, Egypt, Nigeria and Bangladesh.
What transpires from the brief is that despite the lingering recession in the West and not a very congenial employment climate in some of the Middle Eastern countries -- the job market for many South Asian countries -- influx of migrant workers has increased fetching valuable resources for their national exchequer. If the WB forecast holds good, the situation in immediate future is going to further improve for the developing countries to send their manpower in increased numbers to work abroad and send money home.
A large majority of the migrant workers are unskilled or at their best semi-skilled, and the wage they are offered are low compared to the wage structure of the destination countries. Besides, a good deal of the jobs undertaken by the migrant workers does not attract the locals, either due to less than expected incomes or such jobs are considered hazardous. The work done by Bangladeshi workers in Singapore, for example, in under-water submarine cable networking, is such an example.
What the WB brief has informed is reassuring. Although it does not warrant any premonitions in near future, countries in the developing world, which are becoming more and more dependent on migrant remittances, should try to secure value added services for their workers abroad. This, while ensuring relatively well paid jobs, would go in the way of sustaining the benefits for a longer term - to the benefit of the expats themselves as well as their countries. As for Bangladesh, the seventh highest recipient of overseas remittances according to the WB brief, the need for securing semi-skilled and skilled jobs for its expat workers is critically important. We have seen during the Iraq and subsequently Libya crisis, thousands of expats retuning home empty handed just because most of them were unskilled. The case might have been otherwise in case of a skilled workforce.
The ministry for expatriate affairs is trying to facilitate overseas job-seekers mainly through reducing the cost of migration. A welcome initiative, no doubt. But to ensure that the job aspirants are secured well enough in their workplaces abroad in terms of salary and other perks including welfare benefits, efforts should be in place to cater to the mid-and-up-end job markets. In this respect, a well-designed policy, backed by information on market needs and facilitating measures, can generate a meaningful boost in employment overseas.
wasiahmed.bd@hotmail.com
Workers\\\' remittance and the developing world
Wasi Ahmed | Published: January 28, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00
Share if you like