Secretariat - Office of the Co-ordinator of OSCE Economic and Environmental Activities

The Ministerial Council Decision (MC.DEC.05/09) on Migration Management “encourages the participating States to take the necessary measures to minimize negative impacts of the global financial and economic crisis on migrants by intensifying economic co-operation, creating attractive conditions for investment and business development facilitating the flow of remittances”.

This decision also underscores "the importance of mainstreaming migration policies into economic, social, environmental, development and security strategies and addressing migration management through co-operative, comprehensive and cross-dimensional approaches”.

In order to share information on how to strengthen the links between migration and development, the OCEEA and the IOM organized with the support of the Austrian Government a regional conference on Migrant Investment, Return and Economic Reintegration for Development in the South-Eastern Europe and Central Asia regions in Vienna on 10-11 December 2009.

The aim of the conference was to discuss new research findings on the potential of migrants' savings for investment and development in countries of origin. Participants discussed how governments, in co-operation with the financial sector, could put in place incentives and measures that would encourage migrants to invest part of these savings in the countries of origin, thus better capturing the potential of migrants' savings and remittances for socio-economic development. They also exchanged information and experience on initiatives and programmes aimed at alleviating the negative effects of the global economic crisis on migration and development, including economic reintegration programmes. The event brought together around 100 participants from the OSCE participating States, including representatives of governments, commercial and central banks, migrants' associations and international organizations.