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  • Remittance Project

Training for Professionals

Asia forum on REMITTANCES & DEVELOPMENT

Forum overview
The Project Consultancy unit of SEEDS (Gte) Ltd. is organizing this forum under the theme of “Implications of Migration, Remittances Based Livelihood in Developing Economies”. The forum is to be held in Hotel Taj Samudra, Colombo, Sri Lanka from 11 to 13 January 2011

Forum Sessions

11th January
Applying Best Fit Remittance models in Asia
   -  Handling Remittances to benefit Remittance Senders and Receivers
   -  Promoting Income Generating Activities for a loyal clientele
   -  Innovative ways of reducing cost of Remittances and improving speed of transfer
   -  Collaborative efforts to encourage use of Legal Channels for remitting

12th January
Integration of Sustainable livelihood Development   into Migration & Remittances (with a half day Field Excursion)
   -  Socioeconomic behavior of the Migrants' families (invisible poverty etc.)
   -  MSME Development for Sustainable livelihood
   -  Brain drain or Brain Gain?

13th January
P3olicy Constraints and achievements
   -  Addressing the Legal Constraints for Microfinance institutes to handle remittance
   -  Recent Positive changes in the Policy framework

Rationale
Population decline in the developing countries along with the globalization opened doors to foreign labor which offered an outstanding opportunity for the developing nations to build their economies with foreign funds earned through expatriates. The labor mobility is increasing both in scope and intensity. With an average of US $ 164 per capita remittance to Sri Lanka compared to the average of approximately a US $ 35 in South Asia in 2009(Source: Ministry of Finance and Planning), the role of remittance in the national development process is palpable. It is worthwhile to ensure that these funds are invested in development purposes and not wasted in consumption and to retain them in the local economy.
Despite the importance of remittance in Sri Lankan economy, the subject is seldom discussed and local literature on it is scarce. Proposed forum attempts to create a dialogue in the country about prospects of remittance with the help of international experts in the field of remittance.

Call for Papers

Submission of papers related to the theme of the Forum is now accepted and interested parties are to submit full length papers (4 page) or Abstract (1 page) through an email chamali@seeds.lk with the subject line "Call for Papers - AFRD ", before 20th November 2010.

Selected papers will be announced through this webpage and through emails to selected authors by 12th December 2010. Each paper, involving a 15 minute speaker presentation will be followed by       a 10 minutes Discussion Session.
In addition to the grand opportunity to present their findings at the Forum, presenters would be entitled to the following concession on their Registration fees;

Forum Highlights
A half-day field excursion to Negambo, a migration prone area in Sri Lanka which would provide the participants with an opportunity to observe the real life migrant issues and compare the applicability of different remittance models in actual context.

.Registration

Duly filled registration form and Bank slip should be scanned and sent to chamali@seeds.lk or saminda@seeds.lk on or before 24th December 2010

To download;

Registration Form

Sponsorship package