IOM Azerbaijan and State Migration Service launched “Enhancing the Socioeconomic Benefits of Remittances in Azerbaijan” project

The hybrid event attended by more than 30 representatives of various government agencies, international organizations, banks, Azerbaijan’s diaspora organizations, migrants’ associations in Azerbaijan, and other non-governmental organizations started with the opening session where the participants were welcomed by Mr Vladimir Gjorgjiev, Chief of Mission for IOM Azerbaijan, and Mr Vahid Gahramanov, Head of the Migration Policy and Legal Support General Department of the State Migration Service.

In his opening remarks, Mr Gjorgjiev highlighted the importance of the project which will be implemented in partnership with the relative government agencies, banks, diaspora, international and non-governmental organizations. He noted that remittances in Azerbaijan represent an important source of income for households, particularly in rural areas. At the same time, remittances are an engine for socio-economic growth of the country.

“According to the World Bank’s and Azerbaijani Central Bank’s data, total amount of remittances sent to Azerbaijan in 2020 equalled to over 3% of GDP. Although small in relative terms, total amount was over 1 billion USD, which is quite big figure. What is more, Azerbaijan hosts tens of thousands of migrants live in Azerbaijan that send considerable amount of remittances back to their home countries”, said Gjorgjiev.

Mr Vahid Gahramanov noted that successful implementation of the project will benefit not only migrants and their families, also small business and in general economy of the country.

After opening speeches, the participants were informed about the project, planned activities, such preparation of an assessment on remittance transfers, stakeholder analysis and mapping, a roadmap for improving banking & financial services, and digital remittances systems, as well as piloting a digital remittance application. Participants also exchanged views on migration and remittance-related issues, as well as noted importance of cooperation among stakeholders for achieving the objectives of the project. 

Within this project, an established Working Group, consisting of relevant government agencies, banks, diaspora/migrants’ associations, and development partners in future meetings will present and discuss findings, as well as to validate the roadmap.

Overall objective of the 2-year project is to contribute towards greater financial inclusion and use of digital financial services among Azerbaijani emigrants abroad/migrants in Azerbaijan and remittance recipients in Azerbaijan/abroad to support sustainable livelihood development.