SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2015KENT RIDGE GUILD HALL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

©2015 ASKI Global Ltd 352 Tanglin Road #01-04 Strathmore Block Tanglin International Centre Singapore 247671 Tel: (65) 6474 6627 www.askiglobal.com.sg ISBN XXX-XXXX-XX-XXX-X (Paper) All rights reserved. This book, or parts thereof, may not be

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Contents

The Forum Organiser ------------------------------------------------- 1

The Forum Lead Partner --------------------------------------------- 1

The Forum Local Host ------------------------------------------------- 1

The Forum Sponsors -------------------------------------------------- 2

The Forum Supporting Partners ------------------------------------- 3

A. Summary --------------------------------------------------------- 5

B. Background ------------------------------------------------------ 6

C. Opening Session ------------------------------------------------ 9

D. Plenary Sessions

Session 1. Leveraging Remittances for Development ------ 13

Session 2. Financial Capability and Technology ----------- 17

Session 3. Crossborder Microfinancing ---------------------- 20

Session 4. Encouraging Social Entrepreneurship for an

Inclusive Future ------------------------------------------------- 24

E. Closing Session ------------------------------------------------ 27

Appendix

The Forum Organiser

ASKI Global Limited is a non-stock, non-profit organisation that is

focused on the betterment of foreign worker communities in

Singapore. This is achieved through back-to-back coaching and

training of migrant workers as well as their families on

entrepreneurship and financial literacy. To date, the organisation has

trained over 2,000 migrant workers from countries such as the

Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. For more information,

visit www.askiglobal.com.sg.

The Forum Lead Partner

The Citi Foundation works to promote economic progress in

communities around the world and focuses on initiatives that expand

financial inclusion. We collaborate with best-in-class partners to

create measurable economic improvements that strengthen low-

income families and communities. Through a “More than Philanthropy”

approach, Citi’s business resources and human capital enhance our

philanthropic investments and impact. For more information, visit

www.citifoundation.com.

The Forum Local Host

Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Programme aims to develop

Singapore’s next generation of community leaders. Each year, a

small number of NUS undergraduates, majoring in various disciplines,

will be admitted into the CTPCLP as fellows. These future leaders will

not only be intellectually engaged in social and community issues,

they will also have the opportunity to work hand in hand with our

partnering social service organizations, social enterprises and

government agencies to address social and community challenges in

Singapore. They will be tomorrow’s change makers, driven by a

sense of true calling to mobilize the community to collectively solve

social problems. For more information, visit www.ctpclp.nus.edu.sg.

The Forum Sponsors

ASKI Global Limited is a non-stock, non-profit organisation that is

focused on the betterment of foreign worker communities in

Singapore. This is achieved through back-to-back coaching and

training of migrant workers as well as their families on

entrepreneurship and financial literacy. To date, the organisation has

trained over 2,000 migrant workers from countries such as the

Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka. For more information,

visit www.askiglobal.com.sg.

Land Bank of the Philippines is a bank that promises to help their

clients grow. Not only concerned with profits, we are about growing

a nation and its people from the ground up. We are about

sustainable development, preserving the environment, empowering

the countryside, and helping farmers, fishers and small entrepreneurs.

LandBank believes the only way to succeed is by growing together.

For more information, visit www.landbank.com.

BPI Foundation is committed to the welfare and sustainability of the

communities we serve. As the Bank of the Philippine Islands’ (BPI)

social development arm, we aim to uplift the social and economic

well-being of the Filipino people. We focus our corporate social

1 2

responsibility efforts on the three areas where we can achieve the

greatest impact: promoting financial inclusion and economic

empowerment through Education and Entrepreneurship and

advancing Environmental sustainability. Our mission is to provide

programmes that promote financial wellness and economic

empowerment. For more information, visit www.bpifoundation.org.

Philippines Airlines (PAL) began life with a noble mission: to serve as

a partner in nation-building. With this in mind, PAL took to the skies

on 15 March 1941, using a Beech Model 18 aircraft amid the

spectre of a global war. It became Asia's first airline. Since then, PAL

deeply involved itself in shaping the course of historic events. With its

every take-off and touchdown, PAL planted the seed of growth. PAL

has become one of the most respected airlines around the world with

a young and modern fleet of aircraft and a route network that spans

35 foreign cities and 29 domestic points. For more information, visit

www.philippineairlines.com.

The Forum Supporting Partners

Social Enterprise (SE) Association, raiSE, was set up to raise

awareness on social entrepreneurship and raise support for social

enterprises in Singapore. We hope to strengthen the social enterprise

sector in Singapore and encourage the growth of social enterprises

as a sustainable way to address social needs. raiSE provides a

range of services to help social enterprises from start to mature

stages, such as funding, business advisory, training, relevant resources

and networks. We also look to encourage collaboration and sharing

of information between social enterprises and voluntary welfare

organisations. raiSE welcomes the support of corporations and

individuals who would like to contribute or play a role in social

enterprise sector. For more information, visit www.raise.sg.

AIDHA believes in ‘sustainable futures through financial education’ and

that every woman should have the opportunity and choice to

determine her own future. To achieve this goal, we provide a holistic

training programme that includes money management, computer

literacy, leadership and entrepreneurial skills. With these skills, our

students can choose to open businesses of their own or invest in

productive assets like livestock and land in their home countries.

These opportunities enable them to break the cycle of poverty. With

every Aidha student sharing her skills with her family and friends, a

whole community benefits, making the multiplier effect of our

financial literacy programme huge and life-changing. For more

information, visit www.aidha.org.

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A. Summary

The inaugural Inclusive Development and Migration Forum, entitled

“Migrant Empowerment Through Financial and Entrepreneurial

Capabilities” was organized by ASKI Global with Citi Foundation

as lead partner and the National University of Singapore - Chua

Thian Poh Community Leadership Programme as local host. It was

held on 07 February 2015 at the National University of Singapore.

Through this strong support and partnership with Citi Foundation,

there is a platform for Financial Education practitioners and

stakeholders like government agencies, the academe and formal

financial institutions to come together to discuss and share best

practices and challenges on microfinance, financial education,

remittance and social entrepreneurship that can potentially

improve the lives of workers and their families in their home

country. Representatives from Citi Foundation were also involved

in the forum as participants and speakers.

The Forum brought together policy makers, industry thought leaders

and practitioners from across Asia Pacific to discuss financial

inclusion and the economic empowerment of migrant workers and

their families. As a venue for regional collaboration, it sought to

showcase existing initiatives in the field to help widen

understanding, and clarify issues and opportunities that can drive

stakeholders to take effective response towards harnessing the

potentials of migration players for inclusive development.

The Forum identified four development platforms to explore and

encourage coordinated response among concerned stakeholders.

These are:

Leveraging Remittances for Development

Financial Capability and Technology

Crossborder Microfinancing

Encouraging Social Entrepreneurship for an Inclusive

Future

B. Background

"Eradicating extreme poverty continues to be one of the main challenges of our time, and is a major concern of the international community. Ending this scourge will require the combined efforts of all, governments, civil society organizations and the private sector, in the context of a stronger and more effective global partnership for development. The Millennium Development Goals set time bound targets, by which progress in reducing income poverty, hunger, disease, lack of adequate shelter and exclusion can be measured…The Goals are ambitious but feasible and, together with the comprehensive United Nations development agenda, set the course for the world’s efforts to alleviate extreme poverty by 2015. "

United Nations Secretary-General BAN Ki-moon

The Millenium Development Goals (MDG), of which 189 countries

have pledged to, provided the backdrop and framework for

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inclusive development from 2000-2015. Upholding the principles

of human dignity, equality and equity at the global level, the global

community is all too aware of the big challenge it is confronted

with—a globalization trend where “benefits are very unevenly

shared, while costs are unevenly distributed” 1.

Post -2015 MDG agenda, we continue to face the challenge of

poverty and the relevance of inclusive development. “The poverty

situation prevails, as manifested by the widening gap between the

rich and poor, despite economic growth. It has even worsened

through occurrences of extreme weather disturbances, and natural

and social disasters.”2

A new sustainable development agenda is being framed by the

United Nations to guide policy and funding for the next 15 years.

Migration—by its global scale and wide reach estimated to surpass

250 million migrants in 2015 that regularly remit funds projected

to collectively hit US$454 billion, has much to contribute in the

pursuit for inclusive development. Foremost among its offerings

include possibilities to provide “financing to the implementation of

post-2015 development goals…Migration and remittances can be

leveraged to raise development financing via reducing remittance

costs, lowering recruitment costs for low-skilled migrant workers,

and mobilizing diaspora savings and diaspora philanthropic

contributions. Remittances can also be used as collateral, through

1 The United Nations Millennium Declaration 2 Migration, Social Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development: Some Notes, Prof. Marie Lisa Dacanay, February 2015

future-flow securitization, to facilitate international borrowings with

possibly lower costs and longer maturities. And they can facilitate

access to international capital markets by improving sovereign

ratings and debt sustainability of recipient countries.”3

Individually, migrant workers can actively build their productive

assets and capacities to establish/ support and improve livelihoods

in their home towns. As migrant-financed enterprises create local

jobs and make jobs more widely available, overseas employment

could become more of a choice than a necessity for people.

3 World Bank Migration and Development Brief 24, April 13, 2015

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C. Opening Session

Guests, speakers and delegates were welcomed to the Forum by

Associate Professor Albert Chu-Ying Teo, Director of the Chua Thian

Poh Community Leadership Programme of National University of

Singapore and Board of Director of ASKI Global Ltd., and Ms. Hsiu-

Yi Lin, Citi Commercial Bank Head for Singapore. Mr. Gil S. Beltran,

Under Secretary of the Department of Finance of the Philippines,

gave the keynote speech.

Albert Chu-Ying Teo provided the context to the forum by turning

on the spotlight to the migrant workers. He cited latest statistics on

migrant population and volume of remittances flowing to

developing countries as a way to highlight the huge potential of

migration – with migrant workers and their families as active

stakeholders, to boost inclusive development. He invited the

delegates to a productive dialogue to explore ways to support and

enable migrant workers build-up their financial and

entrepreneurial capabilities. Mr. Teo alluded to empowered

migrants as vital to development as he posed a question-cum-

challenge to the delegates, “Now, as we move forward from

Millennium Development Goals to Sustainable Development Goals, the

question all of us should ponder on is: ‘how do you unlock the potential

of remittances and channel these funds to support sustainable and

inclusive development?”

Hsiu-Yi Lin elaborated on the huge potential of migration as a

global phenomenon that “continues to grow in scope, complexity and

impact”. She highlighted the significant role of Asia Pacific region

to migration which accounted for 30 million migrants in 2013 (13%

of the global migrant population) with three Asian countries- India,

China, and the Philippines, listed as top 3 recipient countries of

migrant remittances in 2014. Amidst the large and increasing

amounts of remittances flowing across borders, she pointed out

untapped opportunities that limit the impact of migration to

development. One such opportunity relates to the use of

remittances. She cited an ILO study which found that less than 10%

of remittances being used for savings and productive investments.

This could imply either unavailability of appropriate financial

products or lack of access to financial products among migrant

workers. This could also indicate weak financial literacy for many

migrant workers and their families. “Citi and Citi Foundation place a

strong emphasis on financial inclusion, which may be achieved by

providing financial access as well as enabling financial

capability...This Forum is a continuation of our partnership with ASKI

Global, which started with the Citi-ASKI Overseas Workers Financial

Stability Program to help equip migrant workers in Singapore with

the knowledge and skills to build assets and achieve their short and

long-term financial goals.”

9 10

Gil S. Beltran, in his keynote speech presented the experience of

the Philippines at making good use of remittances, i.e. for the

country’s development, and in protecting the welfare of Filipino

migrant workers and their families. He strongly affirmed the

contribution of remittances to the country, stating that “these surges

of remittances have played a vital role in the economy --- reversing

the boom-and bust cycle which has characterized our growth during

the last decade. It led to the national savings rate rising above

domestic investment rate, thus allowing the country to graduate from

IMF support programs that have been there for five decades. It has

led to the accumulation of foreign reserves of the country. It

strengthened balance of payments and bolstered the country’s current

account position, enabling the country to withstand the volatilities of

the world economy. …Remittances have led to an enlarged middle

class, creating an expanding market for goods and services.”

Mr. Beltran highlighted the importance of building strategic

alliances to broaden the scope and impact of development. He

cited the productive partnership between the Philippine

Government and the private sector in the implementation of a

comprehensive program to build the capacity of migrant workers

and their families in increased productive use of remittances. The

program strongly advocates for mobilization of savings and

investing in financial instruments and local enterprises. It covers a

financial learning campaign complemented by access to a range

of products specially developed for migrant workers and their

remittances. Financial instruments fit three categories: 1) human

resource capital investment (pension, health insurance, life

insurance, pre-need plans for children’s education, etc., 2) physical

capital investment (land purchase, home construction, etc.) and 3)

financial capital investment (bonds, other financial instruments,

enterprise credit). On the micro insurance campaign alone, 702,000

migrant workers have benefited from insurance coverage.

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D. Plenary Sessions

Session 1. Leveraging Remittances for Development

How do we reduce the transaction costs of remittances? (A reduction in

the cost of remittance services would generate a net increase in income for

migrants and their families in the developing world, estimated at US$15

billion.4) How can remittances be directed towards increasing savings

and investment levels of migrant workers and their families? These

were some of the questions and issues that Session 1 explored and

discussed.

4 Payment Systems Development Group of WB

http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTECA/Resources/June2ECARemittance.pd

f

Imelda M. Nicolas initially provided an overview of the state of

international migration, remittances and development in Asia. She then

went on to share the Philippine experience from the unique perspective

of a government institution created primarily for Filipino international

migrants. She pointed out the positive development in the remittances

with the reduction of average cost of remittance services in East Asia and

Pacific to 9% in 2014. She likewise shared the good news with the so-

called diaspora savings which showed an increasing trend in East Asia

and Pacific from 2009-2012. The Philippine case is one where

partnership with migrant workers in nation building is integrated in the

country’s development plan. This ensured the provision of appropriate

policies, structures and resources to move the agenda forward. At the

policy level for instance, a Remittance for Development Council is created

to serve as a forum for regular dialogue on remittance issues. At the

operational level, activities are in place to advocate and lobby for

support to migration and development efforts at the local level. Other

activities being pursued include the pooling of development funds among

migrants and allies, financial literacy, and making information widely

Presenters:

- Secretary Imelda M. Nicolas, Chairperson, Commission on Filipino Overseas

- Mr. Pedro De Vasconcelos, Manager, Financing Facility for

Remittances, International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)

- Ms. Leila Rispens-Noel, Director and Co-Founder, WIMLER Foundation Hong Kong

Moderator: Mr. Peter Harkin, Chief Finance Officer, Fastacash

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available through a one-stop online portal. “All these help create the

enabling environment for the mobilization of diaspora investments,

encouraging returned migrants and their families left behind to undertake

business and livelihood activities, philanthropy and volunteerism for local

development.”

Pedro De Vasconcelos focused his talk on strategic approaches and

operational considerations to better leverage remittances for greater

development impact and to break the cycle of migration dependency.

Affirming the positive trend reflected in a decreasing remittance cost,

down to a global average cost of around 8%, he was quick to point out

that such low costs are still not realized in other areas, especially in rural

areas of least development countries where costs still range from 14-20%

on average. He enumerated four challenges to overcome: access,

competition and intermediation, regulation, and investment in technology.

To respond to these challenges, Mr. Vasconcelos shared the five strategic

approaches identified by United Nations- G20 that involve pursuit of

efficiency, effectiveness, innovation, financial inclusion and impact. He

also presented IFAD’s 4-step operational approach to achieve scale:

advocacy and policy, market strengthening (includes innovation and

technology), financial inclusion (covers financial literacy), and investment

promotion (mechanisms and opportunities).

Leila Rispens-Noel presented a study which gave a financial and

remittance profile of 300 Filipino migrant workers in Hong Kong. It

showed nearly 30% of the sample with no savings habit and where most

of the remittances still go to cover basic needs of migrant families. From

years of direct engagement with migrant workers through provision of

capacity building training and networking support, she affirmed the value

of financial literacy to support migrants’ in their pursuit of migration goals.

She stressed that “financial literacy by itself is not enough” and strongly

advocated for availability of a wide-range of financial support and an

enabling “environment for migrants to start businesses”. She particularly

recognized the role that microfinance institutions can play to provide the

varied capacity building and resource requirements of migrant workers.

At the Open Forum, the discussion focused on ways to further bring down

the remittance cost which has remained in many countries above the 5x5

objective of 2009 (from 10% remittance cost to 5% in 5 years). Cited

among the barriers are the high cost of compliance to regulatory

requirements that have been put in place to mitigate risks such as money

laundering, and low priority accorded to migrant workers’ issues by some

destination countries. Among the enablers cited are availability of

technology such as use of mobile phones in financial transactions,

increasing number of service providers that help drive costs down, and

increasing transparency and accountability by some governments that

commit to the 5x5 objective.

The issue of ‘last mile’ was also discussed which brought center stage to

the need to bring the cost down not only in the urban centers but more

importantly, in the rural and remote areas. Especially meaningful to

migrant workers, the ‘last mile’ may also be interpreted as long-term

sustainability, which is their final reason to come home where a secure

and thriving family business awaits the migrant worker.

15 16

Session 2. Financial Capability and Technology

How do we build-up the financial capability of migrants and their

families? What are best practices and lessons in pursuit of financially

literate and capable migrant workers? How has technology been

harnessed to build financial capability? These were some of the

questions and issues that Session 2 explored and discussed.

Karen Fernandez presented Aidha’s program and impact with migrant

workers based in Singapore. Financial literacy, computer skills, leadership

and entrepreneurship skills classes are the regular interventions provided

to migrant worker-students coming from Philippines, Indonesia, Myanmar,

Sri Lanka and India. Aidha graduates have been noted to spread the

knowledge where 9 in 10 have reported to teaching their family and

community of what they have learnt. Other results from education include:

4 in 10 start business, 7 in 10 invest in land, livestock and buildings, and

8 in 10 start saving money. The latter result is considered a substantial

visible change seen among the migrants. Due to a preference for a

relational and interactive type of communication by migrant workers,

Aida found the impact of technology to be only used to communicate with

family members back home and SMS system to disseminate updates to

the migrant workers. However, it is not significant to the delivery of their

services where “email is not a medium of choice [by migrant workers], nor

website as a main source of information, and where the mobile app for

remittance has little take up.”

Dr. Rashmi Barua talked about several research projects that looked at

the effect of financial education involving a variety of samples (Indonesia,

India, foreign domestic workers in Singapore, etc.) and type of migrants-

international (from one country to another in search of employment and

higher income) and internal (from rural to urban to earn money). Results

were variable and non-conclusive due to limited sample—for example,

one study found savings to have declined despite attendance to a 9-

month financial education class, while another study found financial

education to have a positive effect on savings. However, the former may

be alluding to the “good-mom hypothesis”, whereby savings decrease

because they would rather invest in their children and tend to spend more

on education. Some key take-aways from the presentation are: “financial

literacy is an important step even if only for improving financial product

awareness and individual attitudes towards making financial decisions”, and

as people are not too keen or are hindered to go for training, “technology

may be important to provide financial education remotely”.

Emily Halsall shared Enrich’s programs with migrant workers in Hong

Kong with focus on experiences and results in the use of technology. They

Presenters:

- Ms. Karen Fernandez, CEO, Aidha Singapore

- Dr. Rashmi Barua, Assistant Professor, Centre for International

Trade and Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University

- Ms. Emily Halsall, Director of External Relations, Enrich, Hong

Kong

Moderator: Ms. Joanne Yoong, Director, Center for Economic and

Social Research (East), University of Southern California

17 18

found online workshops to be not effective to motivate and engage

migrant worker-students to complete the courses and adequately

understand knowledge shared; the same is true for email blasts and

posting of resources on the website which were underutilized. Traditional

media for teaching is found more effective. Ms. Halsall was quick to point

out that they have not given up on technology and have used it

successfully in the following areas: sending timely and topical messages

via Facebook, conducting impact evaluation and data analytics using

laptops and ipads, and sending reminders about review of savings goals,

for example, through SMS blast. Opportunities abound to develop and

test interactive apps tailor-fitted to migrant workers and their families

such as in planning and monitoring of shared financial goals.

At the Open Forum, the discussion focused on the importance of allocating

time and resources to impact evaluation. The speakers affirmed that it is

not enough to know that migrant workers find value in the training by

paying for it, but that the training has been used to bring about positive

change in their lives. Moreover, it can provide soft and hard measures to

know the relevance of the programs to the migrant-students and to show

accountability to the institutional mission and donors. A call was made for

more substantive studies to assess and increase the effectiveness of

financial literacy to improve lives. How to effectively scale –up the reach

of financial literacy to the larger migrant population – especially to the

extreme poor in the community – using appropriate technology is an issue

that merits attention and resources as well.

Session 3. Crossborder Microfinancing

How do we facilitate crossborder financing—tapping microfinance to

leverage remittances in a way that supports and protects migrants and

their families as they set-up, manage and grow micro enterprises into

small and medium scale? How can financial institutions – bank and

non-bank, and other support institutions provide an enabling

environment for inclusive finance built around the migrant workers,

their families and communities? These were some of the questions and

issues that Session 3 explored and discussed.

Presenters:

- Mr. Rolando B. Victoria, Chairman, ASKI Global Ltd., and

Executive Director, ASKI Philippines

- Mr. Mark Daniels, Philippine Country Director, Opportunity

International

- Mr. Alfie Othman, Executive Director, Social Enterprise

Association, Singapore

Moderator: Ms. Aneth Ng-Lim, Director for Public Affairs &

Corporate Citizenship, Citi Philippines

19 20

Rolando Victoria presented a working model that integrates and

leverages remittance and microfinance for productive investments in home

towns of Filipino migrant workers based in Singapore. Starting with a

market study to understand the needs of migrant workers, ASKI

Philippines and ASKI Global came up with the 5S to model design:

stability, security, shared responsibilities with family members, sound

financial decision making, and support system in the home country. ASKI

Global went on to develop and offer training and coaching on financial

literacy and entrepreneurship to migrant workers. ASKI Philippines, on its

part came up with a customized microfinancing product package which

includes loan, savings and micro insurance. The loan is designed to initially

receive payment out of remittances until a specified period of time when

the financed enterprise can generate the needed income to pay for its

operations including loan liabilities. The partnership has reached a loan

portfolio of US$350,000 with increasing demand for the services from a

huge market base of 400,000 Filipino migrant workers in Singapore and

Hong Kong alone. ASKI has set its sights to scaling up which brings along

another set of challenges notably going into partnership with other

microfinance institutions (MFI) operating in geographies beyond the

service areas of ASKI, and developing and using technology to provide

assisted migrants with needed information to track progress of enterprises

back home and be engaged in problem solving and making management

decisions.

Mark Daniels introduced and shared the experience of OK Remit, a

newly –established remittance company that brought together

Opportunity International MFI-partners in the Philippines to launch and

operate a shared remittance service. Tapping the wide network of

branches of MFIs is meant to bring about increased accessibility and more

affordable remittance services, initially, to lower income groups

particularly in rural areas for wider and meaningful financial inclusion.

Mr. Daniels elaborated that “by acting as a remittance pay out centres,

MFIs will be able to track the remittance history of recipients. MFIs can use

this information to assess the payment capacity of remittance recipients and

use it as a basis to extend loans to them. Offering loans to remittance

recipients will help them invest in income generating assets. Over a period

of time, OK Remit’s network of remittance centres can be transformed into

a financial supermarket offering savings, loans, deposit schemes, micro-

insurance products and micro-pension products”. Amidst the opportunities,

he also raised a set of reminders about vulnerabilities that may result

from the interplay of migration and microcredit. Indiscriminate loans

extended to migrants and their families, for example, might generate

“pressures to remit more, spend less or save less”.

Alfie Othman showed the relevance of financial inclusion anywhere in

the world even in a developed economy like Singapore. He shared the

work of his institution which reaches out to disadvantaged Singaporeans

characterized as those who earn less than $30,000 a year and

considered unbankable by local banks, and those who are middle-aged

who find it hard to get jobs. Those who are interested to go into

entrepreneurship—“to make money and do good at the same time”, can

avail of financing and continuing guidance and support. He stressed that

Social Enterprise Association (SEA) is not just concerned in providing access

to microfinance but in developing a long-term relationship with the

entrepreneur, providing support where needed as the entrepreneur

operates within the “entrepreneurial ecosystem”. To elaborate his point,

he shared the story of BMT of Indonesia which has managed to reach

scale of 2.2 million members. The Indonesian model entails a profit

sharing scheme which enjoins a continuing engagement by BMT with the

entrepreneur, long past the release of loans, to help bring financed

enterprises to financial viability and sustainability. He refers to this model

as responsible and communal microfinance. For this model to grow in

Singapore, he sees a big role for advocacy and lobby work to get

concerned stakeholders such as regulators and social investors to actively

21 22

support the development of the social entrepreneurial ecosystem. He

highlighted the pressing need to reach out to the unbanked. If the

remittance recipient does not have a bank account, are there ways to

enable money transfer and crossborder microfinancing? Innovative

partnerships involving telecommunication companies and financial

institutions were suggested, with much room for improvement in terms of

access to new financial products and services for the migrant community

and their families.

At the Open Forum, the discussion focused on the issues and challenges

to bring about a productive interplay of remittance and microfinance for

long-lasting impact and widespread reduction of poverty in communities.

One of the issues highlighted is the prevailing phenomenon of the ‘missing

middle’ comprising small and medium scale entrepreneurs in poor

communities. The speakers admitted that the number of micro enterprises

transitioning to small and medium scale is yet too few. Studies show that

most of the income from financed micro enterprises are still used for

consumption smoothing such as provide food, education for the children,

housing, pay for utilities, buy household assets, and cover medical care.

The ability of customers and service providers to fill-up the ‘missing

middle’ entrepreneurs where savings and productive investments can be

generated, may just provide the boost to fuel community development

and transformation in a sustained manner.

This session further emphasized a holistic and systematic approach that

must be adopted for cross border microfinancing, anchored on migrants

and their families becoming social and small-medium scale entrepreneurs

in their home countries, to effect inclusive and sustainable growth. Ideas

did not stop at the development of the entrepreneurial ecosystem for the

entrepreneur; another idea presented involved the development of the

entrepreneurial mindset at an early age of the population through the

inclusion of entrepreneurship in the high school curriculum.

Session 4. Encouraging Social Entrepreneurship for an Inclusive Future

What is social entrepreneurship and how can it support and strengthen

migration for sustainable and inclusive development? How do we

engage and empower migrant workers and their families as

stakeholders in social entrepreneurship? These were some of the

questions and issues that Session 4 explored and discussed.

Marie Lisa Dacanay presented several ways to look at and appreciate

social entrepreneurship (SE). In terms of philosophy, SE adopts a

“distributive enterprise philosophy that involves wealth creation and its

Presenters:

-Professor Marie Lisa Dacanay, President, Institute for Social

Entrepreneurship in Asia

- Ms. Anna de Chavez, Investment Manager, Peace & Equity

Holdings, Inc., Philippines

Moderator: Mr. Kevin Teo, Managing Director, Asian Venture

Philanthropy Network, Singapore

23 23

24

distribution to the poor” where the surplus or profit may be distributed as

dividends, used to support services for the poor, or invested to fulfil a

social mission. From a strategic perspective, SE offers “innovative solutions

to social problems” with products, services and processes in place that are

meant to improve the poor’s well-being and where the poor actively

participate as actors in their own development. SEs may take three forms:

1) social mission driven organisations that explicitly pursue poverty

reduction objectives, 2) wealth creating organizations engaged in

provision of goods and services adopting a double or triple bottom line

(social, financial and environmental), and 3) distributive philosophy

enterprises that distribute surplus to benefit the poor as primary

stakeholders. These SE elements that revolve around the poor as primary

stakeholders and active agents of their own development make SE stand

out as a key “strategy for sustainable development”.

She shared the initiative of 13 Asian countries that have come together

and issued a SEAL Asia Conference Declaration 2014 to build a vibrant

SE sector in the region in support of the post -2015 development agenda.

Follow-up activities entail lobby efforts for state incentives to support SE

growth. Mobilization of SE development fund from the migrants for

match-up by the private sector is also being explored.

Professor Dacanay states that social enterprises particularly in

developing countries where poverty and equality are stark realities,

needs to be more specific in their products and services. Not only do we

need to focus on social enterprises as a whole, but we also need to

appreciate Social Enterprises with the Poor as Primary Stakeholders

(SEPPS) so as to address the poverty and inequality in developing or

migrant-sending countries.

She went on to offer two possible ways for involve migrant workers to be

active SE stakeholders: 1) support SEs that address rights and welfare

issues of migrant workers and their families (for example, enrol in

capacity building courses) and 2) invest in SEs such as establish and

manage own SE or become a social investor to existing SEs.

Anna de Chavez shared the work of Peace and Equity Foundation in

supporting the growth of competitive and inclusive SEs. This involves

putting a lot of effort in capacity building to make SEs investment-ready.

Their experiences with 56 SEs have shown that while attaining success as

a typical entrepreneur is a big challenge, becoming a successful social

entrepreneur is a bigger challenge. One has to contend with double or

triple bottom lines and employ pro-poor strategies and processes in

producing social goods. In the works is the establishment of a Social

Enterprise Academy that will build SE capacities on three areas:

leadership, governance, and business /technical operations and

management. Graduates will be nurtured in an entrepreneurial culture

that encourages innovation and commitment to the pursuit of sustainable

social impact. Ms. De Chavez and PEF support the vision of migrant

workers as social entrepreneurs or as investors to SEs.

At the Open Forum, further discussion was made to expand the concept

of inclusive development to that of sustainable and inclusive development

with the adoption of SE as the development strategy. Doing business for

SEs is not just about social inclusion but also about social equity (for

example between gender), and where economic growth goes hand in

hand with quality (for example improving conditions of employees) and

integrity in use of natural resources. Since SE goals entail soft measures

on social impact such as improving well-being or empowerment, speakers

stressed the need to devote time and resources to SE impact assessment.

Disseminating good results of SEs is one way to widen understanding and

recognition of the importance of SEs. Such understanding is crucial to bring

SE at the global agenda for sustainable and inclusive development, and

from which, much needed support may be drawn.

25 26

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E. Closing Session

A synthesis of ideas, issues and initiatives presented and discussed at the

Forum was given by Mr. Eduardo Jimenez, former Regional Associate,

Alliance for Financial Inclusion. To pave the way forward and in answer

to the question of how to unlock the huge potential of migrant workers to

support sustainable and inclusive development, the following cross-cutting

points were raised:

1. Invest in Research and Development -Evidence based research to assess impact and transformation -Appropriate technology to make products and services cheaper,

faster, and better -Consumer rights and effective delivery of messages to drive action

2. Lobby to Strengthen the Environment for Increased Participation by the Private Sector and Migrants -State incentives to make formal remittance channels more attractive, operate or invest in a social enterprise, etc. -Appropriate policies to encourage innovation, consumer protection,

risk mitigation, scale-up -Financing for development, i.e. explore options of diaspora bonds to mobilize additional external finance for developmental projects with high social returns such as infrastructure

3. Reinforce coordination across stakeholders who engage in programs

and activities for migrant workers and their families -Regular dialogue among stakeholders to address issues, share and learn from best practices and failed interventions, and explore partnerships -Regional collaboration possibly under the ASEAN economic

integration platform

4. Scale-Up Outreach of Appropriate Products and Services -Financial Inclusion -Financial Literacy/Capability

-Entrepreneurship/Social Entrepreneurship Education

5. Deliver Holistic Development Packages to Migrants and their Families -Financial literacy with entrepreneurship education, microfinance, and sustained support -Social entrepreneurship education with investment, and sustained support.

Master of ceremonies, Ms. May Garlitos, thanked all the guests, speakers

and delegates for their presence and active participation.

27 28

Appendix: Programme Outline

SATURDAY 7 FEBRUARY 2015

TIME ACTIVITY

8:00 AM Registration

9:00 AM

Opening Address

Associate Professor Albert Chu-Ying Teo, Director, Chua Thian Poh Community Leadership Programme, National University of Singapore

Hsiu-Yi Lin, Head of Citi Commercial Bank, Citi Singapore

9:20 AM

Keynote Speech

Mr. Gil S. Beltran, Undersecretary, Department of Finance, Philippines

10:00 AM Tea Break

10:30 AM

Plenary Session 1: Leveraging Remittances for Development

Moderator: Mr. Peter Harkin, Chief Financial Officer, fastacash, Singapore

Speakers:

1. Secretary Imelda M. Nicolas, Commission on Filipinos Overseas

2. Mr. Pedro De Vasconcelos, Manager, Financing Facility for Remittances, International Fund for Agricultural Development

3. Ms. Leila Rispens-Noel, Director and Co-Founder, WIMLER Foundation Hong Kong

11:30 AM Lunch and Networking

12:30 PM

Plenary Session 2: Financial Capability and Technology

Moderator: Ms. Joanne Su-Yin Yoong, Director, Center for Economic and Social Research (East), University of Southern California

Speakers:

1. Ms. Karen Fernandez, Chief Executive Officer, Aidha, Singapore

2. Assistant Professor Rashmi Barua, Centre for International Trade & Development, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India

3. Ms. Emily Halsall, Director of External Relations, Enrich, Hong Kong

1:30 PM

Plenary Session 3: Crossborder Microfinancing

Moderator: Ms. Aneth Ng-Lim, Director for Public Affairs & Corporate Citizenship, Citi Philippines

Speakers:

1. Mr. Rolando B. Victoria, Executive Director, ASKI Philippines

2. Mr. Mark Daniels, Regional Director, Opportunity International Australia

3. Mr. Alfie Othman, Executive Director, Social Enterprise Association, Singapore

2:30 PM Tea Break

3:00 PM

Plenary Session 4: Encouraging Social Entrepreneurship for an Inclusive Future

Moderator: Mr. Kevin Teo, Managing Director, Asian Venture Philanthropy Network, Singapore

Speakers:

1. Ms. Anna de Chavez, Investment Manager, Peace & Equity Holdings, Philippines

2. Professor Marie Lisa M. Dacanay, President, Institute for Social Entrepreneurship in Asia

4:00 PM

Synthesis and Closing Remarks

Mr. Eduardo Jimenez, Former Regional Associate, Alliance for Financial Inclusion

4:30 PM Networking