Keith Nurse, The United Nations Committe for Development Policy (CDP)

1. Global Migration, Diasporas and
the SDGs
Presentation to
The United Nations Committee for Development Policy
(CDP) and the National Autonomous University of Mexico
(UNAM), Mexico City, 14-16 November2017.
Keith Nurse
Senior Fellow & WTO Chair
University of the West Indies, Barbados
keithnurse@me.com

2. Global Migration &
the SDGs
It is estimated that in 2015,
244 million people, or 3.3 per
cent of the world's
population.
Migrants are often subject
to xenophobia and social
marginalization and so are
amongst the most vulnerable
social groups.

4. SDGs &
Migration
SDG 8:
Economic growth &
decent work
SDG 10.7:
Well-managed
migration policies
SDG 10C:
Reducing the
transaction costs
of remittances
SDG16: Issue of
trafficking of
migrants

5. Moving Beyond the SDG Agenda
• Migration has made
a significant
contribution to
poverty reduction,
trade and economic
development
historically (e.g.
Norway, Italy,
Ireland).
• In the contemporary
context diasporic
flows (e.g.
remittances) have
outpaced and
supplanted
traditional external
flows, for example,
FDI, ODA, Debt
financing.

6. Remittance Flows, Regions (US$bn)
Source: World Bank (2017)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
2010
2013
2014
2015
2016e
East Asia & Pacific
Europe & Central Asia
Latin America & Caribbean
Middle East & North Africa
South Asia
Sub-Saharan Africa
Low & Middle Income
Developing Countries
World

7. Diaspora Stock, Remittances, Income and
Savings (World Bank 2014)
0
100
200
300
400
500
600
700
East Asia & Pacific Europe & Central
Asia
Latin America &
Caribbean
Middle East and
North Africa
South Asia Sub-Saharan
Africa
Diaspora Stock (mn)
Remittances (bn)
Diaspora Income (bn)
Diaspora Savings (bn)

8. Estimated Annual Diaspora Savings and
Incomes, Select LDCs, 2012
Source: World Bank 2014
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
Diaspora Stock (mn) Diaspora Income ($bn) Diaspora Savings ($bn) Diaspora Savings (% GDP)

9. Remittances
Diaspora savings & bonds
Diaspora tourism
& travel
Mobile banking & mortgages
Telecoms Creative exports
Ethnic & Nostalgia goods
exports

10. Knowledge
Transfers Services
Goods
Finance &
Investment
Intellectual
Property
Sending
Country
Receiving
Country
Trade in Goods:
- Identity
- Nostalgia
- Ethnic
- Specialty
- Niche
- Barrels imports
Trade in Intellectual
Property:
- Copyright
- Patents
- Geographic Indications
- Destination branding
Trade in Services:
-Tourism
- Travel & freight
- Telecoms
- Money transfer
operations
- Creative services
Finance & Investment:
- Remittances
-Diaspora bonds
- Diaspora mortgages
- Diaspora savings
- Securitization of debt
& imports
Knowledge
Transfers:
- Return migration
- Brain circulation
- Scientific,
professional & trade
networks
Diasporic Economy and Trade
Diaspora

11. Key Findings: Diaspora Entrepreneurship, Trade
and Investment
 Growth trends in the
Diasporic economy
(remittances, diasporic
tourism, trade).
 Diasporic entrepreneurs
expand trade in goods,
services and IP.
 Diasporic entrepreneurs
have positive trade
impacts.
 Diaspora knowledge
reduces informational
asymmetries.
 Diaspora entrepreneurs
act as co-creators and
institutional
influencers.
 Diaspora entrepreneurs
have a network base in
global cities and in the
various sub-region.