Growing Together: Economic Integration for an Inclusive and - escap

and New Zealand are well connected to
each other, facilitated by the reciprocal
rights agreement under the Trans-Tasman
Travel Arrangement, which came into effect
in 1973. This informal agreement allows for
free movement of labour migrants between
the two countries. Additionally, several
Pacific island countries have large diasporas
in Australia and New Zealand. For example,
in 2005, the population of Samoa stood at
180,000, with 15,240 Samoans residing in
Australia and 50,649 Samoans living in New
Zealand.
An increasing number of migrants travel for
study, particularly at the tertiary level. The
majority of Asian students studying abroad
still favour Europe and North America, 14 but
East Asian destinations, such as Japan and
Republic of Korea, and Australia are becoming
popular (figure II.8); and about 90 per cent of
these countries’ foreign students are from
Asia, especially China. In 2008, about 18 per
cent of Chinese studying abroad studied in
Japan and about 8 per cent in the Republic
of Korea. Another popular destination for
students is the Russian Federation, largely
from Kazakhstan and other Central Asian
countries.
A unique feature in the Asia-Pacific region
is that it hosts both locations of origin and
of destination of labour migrants. Some
economies, such as Japan, Malaysia, the
Republic of Korea, Thailand, Hong Kong, China
and Taiwan Province of China have recently
become destinations for labour migrants.
Those from South-East Asia migrate mainly
to the more affluent economies, notably
Brunei Darussalam, Malaysia, Thailand, and
Singapore as well as to East Asia, particularly
the Republic of Korea; Hong Kong, China;
Macao, China; and Taiwan Province of China.
Meanwhile, labour migrants from Central
Asia tend to migrate to Kazakhstan and the
Russian Federation. 15
Labour migration and remittances
Labour migration also provides a source of
income to households of the migrants left
behind in the countries of origin. Moreover, for
a number of countries of origin of migration in
the region, remittances are the largest sources
of foreign exchange. In 2011 of the top ten
recipients of remittances worldwide, six were
in the Asia-Pacific region, led by India ($58
billion), China ($57 billion), the Philippines
($23 billion), Bangladesh and Pakistan ($12
billion each) and Viet Nam ($8 billion). 16
For some countries, such as Tonga, Samoa
and Nepal, remittances represent a high
proportion – of 20 per cent or more – of the
GDP. 17 Given these benefits, it is not surprising
that the governments of many countries,
such as Bangladesh, India, Indonesia, Nepal,
Pakistan, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand
and Viet Nam, are actively involved in the
deployment of migrant workers.
In addition, the share of remittances originating
in the region itself is very significant.
According to estimates produced by the
World Bank, it ranges between 26 and 43
per cent, depending on the methodology.
According to estimates based on migrant
stocks and incomes in both the sending and
the destination economies, shown in table II.7,
some 34 per cent of the remittances received
by the region in 2010 originated in the region.
The Asia-Pacific subregions with the highest
shares of remittances coming from the region
are North and Central Asia (57 per cent), East
and North-East Asia (54 per cent) and the
Pacific (39 per cent).
Traditional sources of remittances income
outside the region include Canada and the
United States, which provide 42 per cent of
the remittances received by South-East Asia
and 31 per cent of those received by East
and North-East Asia; Europe, which provides
36 per cent of the remittances received by
the Pacific; and the Gulf Cooperation Council
countries, 18 which provide 42 per cent of the
remittances received by South and South-
West Asia. However, as growth in Asia and
the Pacific continues to outpace that of these
traditional sources, it is expected that the
region will be able to offer more and more
opportunities for migrants. Thus, the share
of remittances originating from the region is
likely to increase in the future.
34