�Social remittance� essential for comprehensive development

Bangladesh is a labour-intensive country with a huge population migrating overseas, in search of work. These migrants send remittances back home for the well-being of their families. As a matter of fact, the remittance sector is the second largest sector in Bangladesh after Ready-Made Garments. In 2014, more than four lakh Bangladeshis migrated overseas, sending an estimated USD 14.2 billion as remittances.
This marked an 8 per cent rise in remittance inflow as compared to the previous year.
Remittances are the country’s lifeline and play a crucial role in boosting the economy. These remittances are now not only limited to the financial well-being of the nation.
The average hard-working Bangladeshi migrant also contributes socially, through an exchange of ideas, insights, sharing of values and behaviors with their families and friends in their home country. In other words, migrants working in the developed countries, such as Western and Middle-Eastern countries, are also sending - Social Remittances!
What are Social Remittances?
Social Remittances -- are ideas, know-hows, practices and skills that groom a person's personality comprehensively, while also improving their standards of living.
These social remittances are exchanged when migrants visit their families and friends during their vacation, or retirefrom work and return to live in their home countries.
Additionally, social remittances are also constantly shared through daily communication such as messages, letters, e-mails and phone calls that a migrant regularly uses to connect with his family back home.
These social remittances have a huge potential for community development, as, tactically it governs the way migrants and their families co-exist in their respective societies.
It is a relevant tool for personal development as well as the development of the community at large.   
What is the impact of Social Remittances?
Social remittances have positively impacted Bangladesh as we see significant improvement in business ventures, education, health, sanitation as well as infrastructure, amongst others.
For instance, the attitude towards education has shifted, owing to the fact that people now understand and recognise the demand for varied skills, worldwide.
 As more young people travel overseas for better job opportunities, their non-migrant peers aspire to  attend school and college, within their vicinity or even overseas, in order to obtain superior quality education and enhance their skills.
They venture into a wide spectrum of careers instead of the conventional options such as engineering or medicine.
Bangladeshi migrants in white-collared jobs in host countries, also bring with them business learnings to set up small scale businesses back home.  This can be observed through the noticeable rise in the volume of entrepreneurs in the country with a successful turnover.
This in turn also creates local employment opportunities for others and adds to the incomes of the families.  Taking cue from the developed nations, Bangladeshi migrants are investing time, efforts, and finances to live an urbane lifestyle.
To improve health and hygiene, many rural houses have witnessed new cleanliness and sanitation set ups. The houses are renovated and equipped with advanced electronic devices, a reflection of the changing social profile of the Bangladeshi folk Outlook
Though it constitutes an important piece of the migration-development link, this concept still continues to be understudied. Migration and remittance research needs to go beyond economic considerations to include the social and cultural aspects attached to it.
Migrants should further be encouraged to indulge in an active exchange of ideas, acquired from the developed countries and motivate their peers to do so as well. This practice could also be a positive step in the direction of transforming Bangladesh into a developed nation.

The writer is COO of Xpress Money. He can be reached at [email protected]

�Social remittance� essential for comprehensive development

Bangladesh is a labour-intensive country with a huge population migrating overseas, in search of work. These migrants send remittances back home for the well-being of their families. As a matter of fact, the remittance sector is the second largest sector in Bangladesh after Ready-Made Garments. In 2014, more than four lakh Bangladeshis migrated overseas, sending an estimated USD 14.2 billion as remittances. This marked an 8 per cent rise in remittance inflow as compared to the previous year. Remittances are the countrys lifeline and play a crucial role in boosting the economy. These remittances are now not only limited to the financial well-being of the nation. The average hard-working Bangladeshi migrant also contributes socially, through an exchange of ideas, insights, sharing of values and behaviors with their families and friends in their home country. In other words, migrants working in the developed countries, such as Western and Middle-Eastern countries, are also sending - Social Remittances! What are Social Remittances? Social Remittances -- are ideas, know-hows, practices and skills that groom a persons personality comprehensively, while also improving their standards of living. These social remittances are exchanged when migrants visit their families and friends during their vacation, or retirefrom work and return to live in their home countries. Additionally, social remittances are also constantly shared through daily communication such as messages, letters, e-mails and phone calls that a migrant regularly uses to connect with his family back home. These social remittances have a huge potential for community development, as, tactically it governs the way migrants and their families co-exist in their respective societies. It is a relevant tool for personal development as well as the development of the community at large. What is the impact of Social Remittances? Social remittances have positively impacted Bangladesh as we see significant improvement in business ventures, education, health, sanitation as well as infrastructure, amongst others. For instance, the attitude towards education has shifted, owing to the fact that people now understand and recognise the demand for varied skills, worldwide. As more young people travel overseas for better job opportunities, their non-migrant peers aspire to attend school and college, within their vicinity or even overseas, in order to obtain superior quality education and enhance their skills. They venture into a wide spectrum of careers instead of the conventional options such as engineering or medicine. Bangladeshi migrants in white-collared jobs in host countries, also bring with them business learnings to set up small scale businesses back home. This can be observed through the noticeable rise in the volume of entrepreneurs in the country with a successful turnover. This in turn also creates local employment opportunities for others and adds to the incomes of the families. Taking cue from the developed nations, Bangladeshi migrants are investing time, efforts, and finances to live an urbane lifestyle. To improve health and hygiene, many rural houses have witnessed new cleanliness and sanitation set ups. The houses are renovated and equipped with advanced electronic devices, a reflection of the changing social profile of the Bangladeshi folk Outlook Though it constitutes an important piece of the migration-development link, this concept still continues to be understudied. Migration and remittance research needs to go beyond economic considerations to include the social and cultural aspects attached to it. Migrants should further be encouraged to indulge in an active exchange of ideas, acquired from the developed countries and motivate their peers to do so as well. This practice could also be a positive step in the direction of transforming Bangladesh into a developed nation. The writer is COO of Xpress Money. He can be reached at [email protected]