DUBAI: Pakistan is among the leading remittance receiving countries in the world with a total of $19.3 billion remittances it has received in the current year, it was revealed during the First Pakistan Remittance Summit 2017 in Dubai on Friday.

Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) is the main contributor to the remittance flow to country and its share stood at $10 billion in the year 2017.

The summit, which aimed to engage Overseas Pakistanis to remit through Legal Channels was organised under the patronage of Pakistan Remittance Initiative (State Bank of Pakistan) and the contributing participants - top-tier remittance receiving banks in Pakistan, namely: Allied Bank Limited, MCB Bank, National Bank of Pakistan and United Bank Limited.

Irfan Ali, Executive Director BP & RD, State Bank of Pakistan said, “Pakistan banking industry is growing and we are adopting new technological tools with conventional methods to compete global challenges and counter the risks of non-banking activities.”

He added that, “The Government of Pakistan is considering to introduce a mandatory bank account next year for Pakistanis seeking jobs overseas to properly channelised the remittance sector.”

He said,“The government is launching new initiatives to facilitate and encourage oversees Pakistani community to channelized the remittances sector and reduce the risk if illegeal activities.”

He added, “Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates are our main sources of remittances from the region and we expect a strong rise from this area as new development like Dubai Expo 2020 and Vision 2030 Plan will offer more opportunities to skilled Pakistani workers.”

He hailed the recently launched Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI), which is the right step to enhance the flow of remittances. SBP has launched ‘Asaan Remittance Account’ in collaboration with Pakistan Remittance Initiative (PRI) to support those who receive remittances in Pakistan.

The objective of this initiative is to encourage opening of these accounts for receiving home remittances through proper accounts instead of traditional cash over the counter transactions.

Senior management of top exchange companies and banks of GCC also highlighted the new opportunities and challenges.

Their views articulately depicted the importance of workers and their remittances to Pakistan and its economic growth, the current and future outlook of remittances, the pivotal roles of PRI and banks being played in channelising the remittances towards legal channel, the service and product innovation in money transfer business, growing regulatory requirements and the changing dynamics of global and Middle Eastern economies.

Considerable number of representatives from corporate stream, gathered at the venue, were greeted accordingly, and engaged by smart team members of participating banks. The summit provided an opportunity for open discussions on varied aspects of common interest of PRI, banks, remitters and beneficiaries. The participants were thoroughly encouraged for coming up with productive suggestions with ideas and viewpoints for the betterment of remittance-based services and products to cater the masses.

The event concluded with firm commitments to promote remittance through legal channel as the first choice of remitters, to propagate hassle-free remittance banking, to synchronise energies for the growth of remittance business, to provide customer (remitter and beneficiary) oriented services and products.