IOM forum series (5 of 5)

National Forum on Enhancing the Development Directions in the Utilization of Remittances

The final installment of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) series was held on April 30 with the theme “National Forum on Enhancing the Development Directions in the Utilization of Remittances.” This wraps up the series of discussions that focused on what overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) do with their remittances and how they prepare for longer-term investment/entrepreneurial prospects.

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IOM forum series (4 of 5)

Encouraging Technology Transfers and Development-oriented Migrant Philanthropy

The theme of the fourth installment of the International Organization for Migration’s Thursday forum series was “Encouraging Technology Transfers and Development-oriented Migrant Philanthropy.” It was held on April 24.

The huge amount of donations totaling P2 billion from overseas Filipinos under the CFO LINKAPIL (Lingkod sa Kapwa Pilipino) program in 1990-2007 show the impact of philanthropic activities of Filipino migrants on domestic development. Read more

IOM forum series (3 of 5)

Promoting Entrepreneurship

The theme of the third installment of the International Organization for Migration’s Thursday forum series was “Promoting Entrepreneurship.” It was held on April 16.

Investments and business experts continue to struggle to dispel the pessimism that overseas Filipino workers (OFWs), or their families who are dependent on remittances, are not likely to succeed as entrepreneurs. If entrepreneurs are not born overnight, the question being raised is what is being done to promote entrepreneurial education among the youth, including children of OFWs. Read more

IOM forum series (2 of 5)

‘Cultivating Social Insurance’

The theme of the second installment of the International Organization for Migration’s Thursday forum series was “Cultivating Social Insurance.” It was held on April 2.

A huge amount of remittances go to the health care and education of OFW families. Read more

IOM forum series (1 of 5)

Saving and investing OFW money

The International Organization for Migration (IOM) launched a forum series in Manila last week. The first forum was on financial literacy programs initiated by government and non-government organizations. Two speakers, one from the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and the other from ATIKHA Overseas Workers and Communities Initiative, Inc., gave a presentation in the forum. Read more

Slower remittances growth

OFW remittances for 2008 reached $16.4 billion – higher than the BSP’s projection of $16.3 billion. This is almost 14% higher than that of the previous year. But if you look at the growth figure for December of 0.8%, how confident can we be of our prospects for remittances this year? Read more

OFWs in 2009: Initial outlook

Amidst the global economic crisis, the Philippines is seen now as relatively insulated from the adverse shocks abroad. While other economies are dependent on merchandise exports, the Philippines is powered more by domestic consumption resulting from high levels of remittances from overseas Filipino workers (OFWs). In fact, the country ranks as the fourth largest recipient of remittances, next to China, India, and Mexico. Hence, it does not come as a surprise that the inflow of which is monitored. Read more