In September 2002, the APEC Finance Ministers established a Working Group (WG) on ARS to examine the economic, structural and regulatory factors that encourage the use of ARS in the APEC economies.  In support of the WG the World Bank prepared a report that creates a framework for estimating the magnitude of remittances flows, analyzes incentives for using formal vs. informal channels, and examines the role of formal financial sector establishments in the provision of remittance services that are compliant with international anti-money laundering and combating terrorist financing (AML/CFT) standards.

When the report was presented at the tenth APEC Finance Ministers Meeting (FMM) in Phuket, Thailand from September 4-5, 2003, the FMM “urged the international financial institutions to continue their valuable work on remittances”[1] and the co-chairs of this initiative proposed that a symposium be organized to contribute to the global understanding of the issue.  Delegates attending the Deputies Finance Ministers Meeting advocated that the World Bank conduct economy-specific follow-up case studies, implementing the WG report’s recommendation to conduct such supplementary research.  The APEC ARS co-chairs recommended that the World Bank play a role in supporting the symposium to make the event a success.[2]

As part of the APEC ARS Initiative follow-up, and as part of an effort to increase the World Bank’s involvement in studying the important topic of remittances for all of its clients, comparative case studies have been planned for specific economies.  Research findings and conclusions of these case studies will be shared as part of the exchange of ideas and experiences, in the APEC Symposium on Alternative Remittance Systems (ARS) that will be taking place in Tokyo Japan June 3-4, 2004.  This event is under the APEC Finance Ministers’ Process, organized by the co-chairs of the APEC ARS Initiative, with technical support provided by the World Bank, Asia Development Bank and Japanese Ministry of Finance.