This documentation is edited by the German Federal Ministry of Finance. In response to the request of the G8 in Heiligendamm, the German Federal Ministry of Finance hosted a high-level meeting on remittances in Berlin from 28 to 30 November 2007. The meeting was held in a G8 outreach style, with delegations from G8 countries and the European Commission as well as participants from other countries, international organizations, the private sector, civil society, academia and the media. The high-level meet­ ing had two objectives: First, to assess the progress of measures to facilitate remittance flows agreed at the Sea Island Summit in 2004, where the G8 launched its Global Remittances Initiative. Second, the meeting was intended to initiate a dialog on new channels for transferring funds, instruments to promote migrant transfers and other poten­ tial measures. During the course of six panel discussions with 19 presentations by high-ranking experts, seven rec­ ommendations were formulated by the participants of the G8 Outreach Meeting. G8 Outreach Meeting on “Remittances” in Berlin, 28 – 30 November 2007 G8 Outreach Meeting on “Remittances” in Berlin, 28 – 30 November 2007 Many thanks to ... Ulrike Abratis Atilla Cetiner Neil Fantom Jan Hillered Torsten Albig Pavel Chernyshev Dr. Snezana Filipovic Andreas Hübers Martin Alsop Bertrand Colles` Justin Firrell Dr. Vazil Hudak Luis M. Anaya Ursula Coutu Seymour Fortescue Marc-Alexis Hugonnot Andreas Arsic Pedro De Vasconcelos Dr. Jens Fürhoff Leon Isaacs Jörg Asmussen Mikhail Denisenko Dr. Katia Glaser Jack Jared Véronique Aulagnon Hendrik Denker H. Belgin Gocmen Vladimir Jelacicˇ ´ Dr. Sibel Beadle Raffaella Di Maro Anna Goos Radovan Jelasicˇ ´ Andreas Beckermann Martin Dippl Nikolai Gordeew Dr. Irina Kausch Neeta Bhushan Dr. Volker Ducklau Dennis Görlich Karin Kortmann Norbert Bielefeld Klaus Dünnhaupt Yildiz Götze Dirk H. Kranen Marie-Hélene` Bouvard Bernd Dunnzlaff Dave Grace Nicolette Kressl Axel Brömmer Tanja El-Cherkeh Hans Martin Hagen Gabriele Kühnberger-Zierbock Antoine Brunelle-Côté Naoki Enomoto Dr. Martin Hallet Dr. Alexandra Lang Karl-Burkhard Caspari Wilfried Etmann Michael Hamp Sebastian Löhr ... for attending the High-Level Meeting on Remittances in the Federal Ministry of Finance in Berlin, 28 – 30 November 2007 Annette Lovoi William Nketia Cerstin Sander Judit Wagner Dr. Karin Lutze Giorgio Novello Atam Sandhu Jens Walter François Marion Michael Olsen Kai Schmitz Gregory Watson Peggy Mc Cormack Javier Palmero-Zurdo Stephan M. Schröter Dr. Rolf Wenzel Borooah Meenakhi Dr. Ognjen Pribicevic Riccardo Settimo Dr. Piyasiri Wickramasekara Jens Mikolajczak Smita Purushottan David Sevigny Heidemarie Wieczorek-Zeul Dr. Thomas Mirow Dilip Ratha Sergey Shcherbakov Tamara Zabala Utrillas Dr. Rainer Münz Birgit Reichenstein Kenichi Shimizu Thér`ese Zákˇ Bill Murden Jens Reinke Peer Steinbrück Birgit Zeitschel Günther Müssig Prof. Dr. Herman Remsperger Franziska Striewe Bernard Ziller Soomauroo Nagnib Erika Renneke Renate Stuth Christian Nakonz Donata Riedel Dr. Maria Tekülve Dr. Markus Neimke Leila Rispens-Noel Donald F. Terry Andrea Neu Franz Hubert Rongen Marc Volk Christiane Neuchel-Möllering Filippo Sabatini Heino von Meyer Contents 006 Preface 008 The 7 Recommendations 0 1 0 Opening Statement 0 1 2 Panel I: Scope and Recent Trends of Remittances 0 1 8 Panel II: The Development Impact of Remittances 024 Panel III: Easing the Way Home 030 Panel IV: Update of the Sea Island Action Plan 036 Panel V: Reaching Out to the Unbanked 042 Closing Session: Outlook and Next Steps 048 Closing Statement 052 Official Launch of www.geldtransfair.de 056 Gala Dinner 062 Remittances – An Artistic Reflection 064 Report of the G8 Meeting 072 Remittances in German Income Tax Law 076 Program 078 Bibliography 080 List of Participants 084 Organization Team | Imprint Preface by Peer Steinbrück, Federal Minister of Finance Dear Reader, For me, it was quite a surprise to learn that the volume of remittances – migrants’ private transfers – has already exceeded the figure for official development assistance. These small amounts of just a few hundred dollars, when viewed individually, have reached a level of more than 200 billion US dollars a year in total. In many countries, remittances have become an important, if not the most important, source of external financing. The inflows are often higher than revenues from the export of natural resources or goods and larger than foreign direct invest­ ments. The phenomenon of remittances has been overlooked, not to say neglected, for quite some time. Most governments did not pay much attention to the problems and needs of migrants who wanted to send portions of their hard­ earned money to their relatives in their home countries. And the private sector, mainly the banking industry, was often not interested in offering services for migrants. It is therefore no surprise to find that migrants have often © BMF, Ilja C. Hendel sought private or informal channels to send money home. At the summit in Heiligendamm, the heads of state and government of the G8 countries agreed that Germany, the current president of the G8, should organize a high-level meeting on remittances as early as this autumn. In re­ sponse, the Federal Ministry of Finance of Germany organized a two-day, high-level meeting on remittances in a G8 outreach format with participants at a senior expert level. Alongside delegates from the G8 countries and major recipient countries, the conference was attended by representatives from international organizations, the pri­ vate sector, the media and NGOs as well as representatives from the fields of research and academia. The objective of the meeting was not only to encourage an exchange of views among experts. In fact, the purpose of this meeting was to put the focus back on the remittance phenomenon and to produce an update of the various multilateral and national initiatives that had been launched at the Sea Island Summit in 2004. I would like to congratulate all participants on the formu­ lation of the “7 Recommendations of the G8 Outreach Meeting on Remittances”. These recommendations are a tangible outcome and were not only endorsed by delega­ tions from the G8 countries, but also by representatives from further countries, international organizations, na­ tional institutions, the private sector, academia and the civil society who attended the meeting. Let me thank you for participating in this high-level meeting and helping to make it a success. The feedback we have received thus far on the outcome of the meeting has been very satisfying. In its capacity as G8 president in 2007, Germany inserted the “7 Recommendations” into the G8 process, and I will continue this important work in the G8. First and foremost, the enclosed documentation contains the “7 Recommendations”, but it also provides summaries of the various presentations that were given at the meet­ ing and that, together with the respective discussions, led to the formulation of the recommendations. In addition, you can find copies of the speeches delivered during the conference. Furthermore, we have tried to capture the cooperative atmosphere of the meeting by selecting some representative photographs. I hope you will enjoy the read. Sincerely, Peer Steinbrück PREFACE 006 | 007 The 7 Recommendations of the G8 Outreach Meeting on “Remittances” in Berlin, 28 – 30 November 2007 Background: In response to the request of the G8 in Heiligendamm, the German Federal Ministry of Finance hosted a high-level meeting on remittances in Berlin from 28 to 30 November 2007. The meeting was held in a G8 outreach style, with delegations from G8 countries and the European Commission as well as participants from other countries, international organizations, the private sector, Recommendation No. 1: The participants welcomed the civil society, academia and the media. The high-level work done to improve remittance data following the G8 meeting had two objectives: First, to assess the progress of Summit at Sea Island. National statistical offices and cen­ measures to facilitate remittance flows agreed at the Sea tral banks are encouraged to continue their efforts to Island Summit in 2004, where the G8 launched its Global improve the quality of data used to compile estimates of Remittances Initiative. Second, the meeting was intended remittance flows within the Balance of Payments frame­ to initiate a dialog on new channels for transferring funds, work. In this regard, the conference recommends that they instruments to promote migrant transfers and other make use of the forthcoming compilation guide drafted by potential measures. During the course of six panel discus­ the Luxembourg Group. The conference also recommends sions with 19 presentations by high-ranking experts, the that the Luxembourg Group continues to play an active following seven recommendations were formulated by the role in helping countries improve their estimates of participants of the G8 Outreach Meeting. remittance flows. Recommendation No. 2: The participants recognized the extensive research on the development impacts of remittances which has been undertaken in recent years. They invited the international community to explore ways to encourage formal transfers and innovative mechanisms to leverage remittances for development. Recommendation No. 3: The participants welcomed the preparation of General Principles for International Remittance Services by the international taskforce led by the Bank for International Settlements and the World