IOM presented a report on remittances in Turkmenistan during the online seminar training

The steady growth of international remittances demonstrated worldwide throughout the recent decades has been interrupted in 2020 by the COVID -19 pandemic. This resulted in increased vulnerability of migrants and their families remaining at home. At the same time, the crucial contribution of remittances to the development has been long recognized in the Sustainable Development Goals and the Global Compact for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration, - both actively supported by Turkmenistan.

The current event was attended by representatives of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, State Committee for Statistics, State Migration Service, Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Population, as well as representatives of the banking system of Turkmenistan, including the Central Bank, the State Bank for Foreign Economic Affairs, the State Commercial Bank “Turkmenbashi”, the State Commercial Bank “Turkmenistan”, the Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “Halkbank”, the Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “Senagat”, and the Joint-Stock Commercial Bank “Rysgal”.

The workshop was held within the framework of the IOM Regional Project "Mitigating the socioeconomic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on migrants and communities in Central Asia and the Russian Federation" funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation aimed at addressing the consequences of the pandemic on migrants, including strengthening the capacity of governments of CA and Russia Federation in the field of international remittance management.

National legal expert Dr. Y. Kepbanov, presented the report on the “Legal framework for international remittances in Turkmenistan”. This was followed by the presentation of IOM international consultant Ms. Anna Prohorova that focused on analyzing key trends and perspectives of remittances market impacted by the pandemic in Tajikistan and Russian Federation. Representatives of the banking system of Turkmenistan shared with participants information about the services provided by the state and commercial banks under the digitalization program carried out by the government. The event demonstrated high level of interest in sharing experiences and practices in the area of remittances.

In conclusion, the participants discussed possibility of developing a joint project on advocating financial literacy among migrants and general population of Turkmenistan.