Agreement between Arab States for E-Money Transfers using UPU's International Financial System (IFS)

Date Shared:

Friday, January 10, 2014 - 19:00

Countries and areas:

Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen

2030 Agenda migration-relevant and related target Labels:

Goal 10: Reduced inequalities - 10.c on remittances costs reduction

Targets that could benefit from the potential of migration and migrants

GCM Thematic Cluster Areas:

Objective 20: Promote faster, safer and cheaper transfer of remittances and foster financial inclusion of migrants

Contributors:

International Organizations

Member States

Chairmanship:

Philippines 2008

Geographical Relevance:

Regional

Tags:

Regional Consultative Processes and International Regional Fora, Migration, Trade and Investments, Remittances, Capacity Building, Legal Frameworks on Migration

Summary:

Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar, Syria, Tunisia, UAE and Yemen signed an agreement to start electronic money transfers using technology that has been developed by the Universal Postal Union (UPU).

According to the Universal Postal Union (UPU), the agreement will now allow the eight countries to exchange money orders on a multilateral basis. This is particularly valuable in countries such as the United Arab Emirates, where more than 80% of the population are foreigners, and millions of dollars are sent to home countries through remittances.

Link:

For more information:

http://www.ptc.upu.int/ps/ifs.shtml
Briefing note: http://www.poea.gov.ph/laborinfo/updates/2008/mu_19_2008.pdf

GFMD Source:

GFMD 2008 - Roundtable 1.2 "Empowering Migrants and Diasporas to Contribute to Development"