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India tops global remittances list
India tops global remittances list Issac John / 4 October 2013 With the developing world on track to receive $414 billion in migrant remittances in 2013 — an increase of 6.3 per cent over the previous year — India again topped the global chart with $71 billion in remittances, according to a revised World Bank forecast. Other top recipients of officially recorded remittances for 2013 are China ($60 billion), the Philippines ($26 billion), Mexico ($22 billion), Nigeria ($21 billion), and Egypt ($20 billion), the report said. The World Bank said migrant remittances to developing world is projected to jump to $540 billion by 2016. The GCC is already the largest send market for South Asian and Mena countries, contributing close to 50 per cent of the market. It also accounted for more than 40 per cent of the total inward remittances received by the market, said Sudhesh Giriyan, vice-president & business head, Xpress Money. “GCC will continue to grow in its stature as a major remittance source bloc with countries like the UAE and Qatar lining up major development projects, particularly in infrastructure, which will, in turn, lead to more influx of expatriate labour force,” said Giriyan. India’s projected remittance receipt is just short of three times the FDI (foreign direct in-vestment) it received in 2012, when the country’s recorded $69 billion in total remittances. India and China alone will represent nearly a third of total remittances to the developing world this year, said Dilip Ratha, economist and the manager of the Migration and Remittances Unit at the World Bank. Other large recipients include Pakistan, Bangladesh, Vietnam and Ukraine. Remittance in-flows to the Middle East and North Africa region are expected to grow by 3.6 per cent in 2013 to about $49 billion. With about $20 billion in remittances anticipated in 2013, Egypt is the sixth largest beneficiary in the developing world, and receives about 40 per cent of remittances sent to the Mena region. Migration within the Mena region is growing, accounting for a growing share of migrants. The largest corridor is from Egypt to the GCC, where there are 2.4 million Egyptian migrants, including 1.3 million in Saudi Arabia alone, the World Bank said. Remittances to Lebanon and Morocco, two other large recipients in the Mena region, are expected to recover in 2013, after flat or negative growth in 2012. In 2012, the total remittances made by migrant workers in the Arab Gulf states amounted to $80 billion (representing a fifth of the global remittances), out of which 24 per cent were remitted by the migrant workers in the UAE for the same year, according to Ambassador Ahmed Al Jarman, Permanent Representative of the UAE to the United Nations at a UN roundtable. Globally, the world’s 232 million international migrants are expected to remit earnings worth $550 billion this year, and over $700 billion by 2016, says the latest issue of the World Bank’s Migration and Development Brief. As a percentage of GDP, the top recipients of remittances in 2012 were Tajikistan (48 per cent), Kyrgyz Republic (31 per cent), Lesotho and Nepal (25 per cent each), and Moldova (24 per cent). Growth of remittances has been robust in all regions of the world, except for Latin America and the Caribbean, where growth decelerated due to economic weakness in the United States. In South Asia, remittances are noticeably supporting the balance of payments. In Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, remittances are larger than the national foreign exchange reserves. All these countries (most notably, Pakistan) have instituted various incentives for attracting remittances. In India, remittances are larger than the earnings from IT exports. With the weakening of the Indian rupee, a surge in remittances is expected as non-resident Indians take advantage of the cheaper goods, services and assets back home. “Fall in the rupee exchange rate and attractive interest rates on external deposits have helped drive remittances to India, thereby supporting the balance of payments situation and contributing 3.7 per cent to India’s GDP,” said Promoth Manghat, vice-president — global operations, UAE Exchange. The Indian rupee depreciated by over 20 per cent during the first three quarters of 2013, among other things due to concerns over continuing current account deficits in India and the impact of an expected tightening of monetary policy in the US, which has induced a general retrenching of international capital and reduced flows to India. While actual data have not yet been compiled for the third quarter of 2013, money transfer operators are reporting a surge in remittances, as Indian migrants benefit from a higher value of their remittances in India. Remittances to India in the first half of 2013 were $35.6 billion. issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Green firms miffed at being shown the exit
Green firms miffed at being shown the exit Staff Reporter / 4 October 2013 Thirty-five exhibitors of ‘green companies’ who had come together to promote eco-friendly products at a mall in Dubai were allegedly shown the door by a manager. Ten days ago it was confirmed that Goumbook — an online green business directory in the Middle East — would host the event called Future Green for the fourth consecutive year. Goumbook had partnered with the mall to host Future Green 2013 on Thursday and today. The Eco-friendly products that were on display before the exhibitors were asked to leave the mall. — Supplied photo Future Green is an exhibition designed to promote environmental awareness and eco-friendly products and services, supporting eco-wise consumer behaviour and sustainable living in the UAE. This event had 35 exhibitors for two hours on day one before the chaos started. Tatiana Antonelli Abella, Owner and Managing Director at Goumbook-your green connection, said: “It was him, one person who insulted us, called this ‘worse than a carboot sale in the UK’, and said to the exhibitors that your products are not up to the standard to be sold in a mall.” The art and craft products up on display, as well as all other products and exhibitors were selected by Goumbook and were certified eco-friendly products and services covering different categories, including Food & Beverage, Home & Garden, Health & Wellbeing, Beauty, Business & Technology, and Environmental Science. The exhibitors were doing good business in the two hours that they were up for. The suppliers told Abella they were selling their wares even a little while after the tables were taken away. The manager was, however, not available for comments. One company, ‘6 am Babies’, wrote online: “Very disappointed that the Future Green event was cancelled midway due to management’s last-minute change of heart! Thank you for Goumbook-your green connection for handling it very professionally … we look forward to joining you in the next event you organise! The power of social media kicked in when the manager came back and told Tatiana she could have her stalls back if the tweets stopped. “But he did not apologise,” she said. And so a two-day event that had gathered publicity in the last fortnight and won the support of three dozen exhibitors was unceremoniously canned. A lady was stranded at the mall with her wares, as her husband from Ras Al Khaimah had planned to pick her up only later in the evening. — nivriti@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
Health insurance for all in three years
Health insurance for all in three years Asma Ali Zain / 3 October 2013 The head of Dubai’s health authority says he wants to see the population fully covered by health insurance within the next three years — up from less than a third at the moment. The health insurance policy for the emirate of Dubai has been approved and implementation will be done as soon as the Medical Insurance Law is passed, Dubai Health Authority (DHA) director general Essa Al Maidoor told Khaleej Times in an exclusive interview. ‘Health is about people, their feelings…’ H ow do you see the healthcare system for the future in Dubai keeping in mind the Dubai Heath Strategy 2013-2025? There are two issues here: when a business or service is to be started, we should have a strategy. When we talk about health services, it is not like building any infrastructure. For example, a road network needs to be built just once and it is done. Health is different… health is about people, their feelings, their souls and their social lives and that is how we drive our strategy. We start with prevention and we end up with investment and sustainability because you know you have to have prevention and make sure that you are transforming society to be as healthy as possible in practice and its way of life. All these need initiatives, programmes and designated staff as well as collaboration with local and international healthcare institutions, societies as well as government and private sector entities. When it comes to providing services, we have to see accessibility, such as do you have to drive too far to access a service? From that, we come up with project developments which are based on the population and geographic locations between primary healthcare centres, hospitals and settlements. Is there a plan to make primary healthcare centres (PHCs) stronger and more accessible to people? This is based on what His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has approved as short-term measures. The PHCs have a lot of potential which can be enhanced to give better 24-hour service and even in emergencies… So why head to a hospital when you can have a facility near you that can provide the same service? We recently announced that Nad Al Hammar and Al Barsha (PHCs) will serve people 24 hours. These centres have been selected because of their locations and the large community around them. Keeping in line with the strategy, you will find that some activities are going to be transferred… moved from a concentrated location… decentralised but will continue to provide service without affecting the quality. Decentralisation will provide enhanced geographical access to healthcare services in the emirate. Are health education clinics included in these centres? These are included but of course it is not a matter of emergency. Education, prevention and screening is ongoing… it is a continuous activity. Medical tourism is important for Dubai and for that, we need a big infrastructure and professionals as well. What are the plans to implement such a big project? When we talk about customers and patients… we talk about everybody. Our people, our guests… people coming to Dubai. Our strategy is to further build up quality — starting from having a strong legislation and system in which you can find it easy to invest in the medical industry to an easier, comprehensive and trusted medical system where you have good hospitals, doctors, good machines and so on. In totality, the focus is on quality medicine. We are building a total and credible system which people will trust and choose. We are not asking them to come… but we want them to select Dubai as their destination for medical tourism. We are building on earlier achievements since Dubai has achieved a lot in tourism… we are trying to utilise what is already there, such as roads, airlines etc… People like to come here and when they find that there is also a medical part to it, their stay will be more comfortable. You are talking about the infrastructure, but how do you attract the professionals? Well, actually Dubai is a brand and people like to associate themselves with a brand. We are building the Dubai brand in the medical field and in general as well. We are soon going to have a Dubai accreditation body which hopefully will elevate the standards. Would you be able to give any projected numbers (of professionals a nd infrastructure)? In such things, you cannot give figures… we can say there is a momentum for that. I can tell you that within the last 10 years, more than 20 hospitals have been built. There are more than 1,500 beds under construction, so it means people are investing here… Will the investor come if there is no potential? A strategy has already been approved by the Executive Council and we are implementing (that). With that, you will see improvements in the health sector. Professionals like to come to a place where there are rules and regulations and a sound system. Not everybody can come in… we have to have control on that because we are dealing with people’s health. For such an infrastructure, you would need public and private partnership. Is that an important part of the strategy? Yes, of course, private and public partnership is the way forward to achieve excellence in healthcare. I established a committee that had members from the public and private health sectors. This committee includes members from some private hospitals and some staff from the DHA. They are working together headed by the director of the Licensing Department to improve and see how we can make investors’ life easy… We try and make processes without complications and without affecting the quality because investors have invested a lot in the hospitals and they do not want poor quality. They are working together and this will soon reflect in medical tourism. There has been much talk about health insurance. What exactly is the status now and when will it be rolled out? I can tell you comfortably that 30 per cent of the people in Dubai are insured… almost a million. In the meantime, we have got the health insurance policy approved and we are in the process of getting the insurance law endorsed. Currently, we are liaising with all stakeholders and partners such as the Department of Economic Development, Tourism Department, Immigration, Legal Department in the Ruler’s Office… so when the law is endorsed, everybody is on board. Also, we have a committee with the insurance companies — at least 40 companies that will deal with health insurance. We are also trying to build the infrastructure in all hospitals. All private hospitals are not 100 per cent equipped to handle insurance claims. We have a plan that within three years, we will transfer from partly insured to a 100 per cent insured society. Will this include the blue-collar workers? Yes, of course. They will also enjoy having an insurance card and service wherever they go. What is your outlook for the health sector in Dubai in the coming two years? I have already established initiatives that are short term and we can get a lot of results mainly targeting the customers and their satisfaction. There are a lot of issues that can easily be dealt with and they are not so complicated and do not require a lot of medical input such as customer relations, appointments, the way the staff deal with people… these have all been taken care of. We also have mid-term and long-term plans to improve direct service providing, medical tourism and also medical education. We are trying to create a different way to look into medical education so that students who have studied for seven to eight (years) get an opportunity to practise in their field of medicine. Research is also very important because all the cases that we treat can be used as statistical information which is important for future planning in terms of public health and health policy and strategy. What are the biggest challenges you foresee in implementing your healthcare plans? There are so many challenges actually… like how to change the staff’s mentality to cope with the customer requirements. The customer satisfaction bar is rising continuously as education and IT access increases. At the same time, the customer’s understanding of issues will make it easier for us to serve them better. With time you will see many initiatives coming in based on what you say as ‘there is no value for success but you have proportional success’. Up close and personal Your role as the head of the DHA? I am a member of this authority. There is no difference between me and other staff members. Any initiative to improve the authority can come from the office boy or even from a director of the hospital but it is an initiative and we have to listen to everybody and work together with positive energy. Your most positive trait that you input in running the organisation? Being positive, being open-minded and accepting any comments and criticism as a gift. With that we can move forward; but if we say we are perfect and have reached the ultimate, that means we have reached the end. What is your health regimen as the head of a health body? I believe in sports. Luckily, I have loved sports since I was a child… I like all types of sports. My advice to everybody is, don’t keep stress in your mind. If you do that, you will get older quickly and sick. There are so many issues doctors can’t cure. Doctors don’t have a miracle stick but I think sports has a miracle stick. Playing sports can release all your tensions 100 per cent. Anyone who does not believe this should try it once. asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com Continue reading
