| Popis: |
Since 1973 the increase in revenues from petroleum has resulted in a substantial migration of workers to the oil exporting countries of the Middle East. Discussion focuses on the policies being used to minimize the costs and maximize the advantages of emigration, including description and evaluation of measures and proposals for further action. No action seems to have been taken to regulate the present wave of Middle Eastern emigration, probably because in its initial stages it proved an unmixed blessing for the labor exporting countries. Steps should have been taken to protect the emigrants. Their living conditions are unsatisfactory in some host countries, and frequently they are exploited by the unscrupulous middlemen who arranged their employment and wages. No effective international agreements, multilateral or bilateral, have been concluded to deal with these problems. A policy response is required as labor shortages emerge in the later phases of emigration, especially as the balance of payments situation improves and reserves rise. An appropriate strategy should combine both supply and demand management measures. It should avoid overambitious antiinflationary objectives. For the majority of the labor exporting countries discussed here, foreign exchange earnings from migrants have reached sizable amounts, exceeding, for example, $1 billion in Egypt, India, Pakistan, and the Yemen Arab Republic. Countries are maximizing those receipts by resorting to compulsion and surrender requirements. Emigrants should be coaxed and not compelled to remit currently a high proportion of savings and to invest a low percentage in the country where they work or in 3rd countries. Remittances by workers during the period of their stay in foreign countries are made for family maintenance and for investment. The most effective way to satisfy emigrants that they will be able to reexport their assets is to remove all restrictions on payments. Going beyond general policies to create a favorable investment climate, almost all labor exporting countries are providing facilities and incentives for specific transactions of interest to emigrants. Policies which create a favorable investment climate and facilitate the construction of housing can be helpful in attracting emigrants back to their country of origin. |
