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Participants of the stakeholder consultation on migration and remittance services in Chattogram
LightCastle Partners organized a stakeholder consultation on the 15th of July at Software Technology Park, Agrabad, Chattogram, with local government officials, bankers, and development professionals working on migration, skill development, and remittance services in Chattogram.
The consultation aimed at gathering district-level insights on existing gaps in service delivery and potential areas for cooperation to enhance migration processes and remittance utilization through financial inclusion and entrepreneurship.
The consultation was held as a part of the comprehensive scoping and baseline assessment of the current remittance landscape for UNCDF’s ‘Shafal – Remittance Management for Socio-economic Stability of Migrant Families’ programme.
LightCastle has been conducting surveys, FGDs, and KIIs with existing migrant workers, remittance receiving families, returnees, aspiring migrant workers, and local stakeholders across six selected districts. Stakeholders will hold a series of consultations to validate the findings from the field, identify synergies and opportunities for collaboration among relevant stakeholders, and explore major areas for policy advocacy.
The findings from the study will help develop strategies and design interventions for improving financial inclusion, strengthening digital financial literacy and services, and stimulating entrepreneurship among migrant workers and their families.
Discussants included representatives from District Manpower and Employment Office (DEMO); Technical Training Center, Raozan; Mohila Technical Training Center, Chattogram, City Bank PLC, BRAC, Prottyashi, and YPSA. The UNCDF team and the members of LightCastle’s study team also attended the discussion.
Stakeholders expressed their views on key topics such as migrant behavior, migration pathways, financial products and services for migrant workers and families, and local entrepreneurship opportunities. They also provided strategic recommendations for policy advocacy and systemic collaboration.
The participants highlighted that a lack of awareness and uninformed decision-making are major challenges leading to increased costs and potential exploitation in the migration process. Migrant workers and their families tend to heavily rely on middlemen and sub-agents as last-mile service providers without proper research or information validation.
The fact that recruitment agencies are primarily based in large cities like Dhaka and rarely have establishments at district and sub-district levels compounds this issue. Additionally, stakeholders noted that segmented service delivery focuses narrowly on individual aspects of migration journey and fails to provide comprehensive counseling and support for long-term challenges faced by migrant workers.
Stakeholders noted that the expansion of financial infrastructure through mobile services, microfinance institutions, and agent banking has improved rural accessibility, but significant challenges remain. A key issue is the limited awareness of formal financing opportunities for migrants. This lack of awareness, combined with widespread use of informal remittance channels, means many migrants and their families do not fully utilize advanced financial products and services.
Due to insufficient understanding of financial management, migrant workers and their families often fail to recognize the benefits of formal financing schemes, relying instead on family and friends. This leads to unproductive fund utilization, with families prioritizing immovable assets over savings and investments that could provide recurring returns.
Stakeholders discussed the potential for collaboration through data sharing between financial institutions and government or development organizations. Such partnerships could enable more accurate assessments of migrant workers’ creditworthiness and lead to tailored financial solutions.
Moreover, stakeholders emphasized the need for skill assessments for migrant workers to enhance their income prospects and future stability. Skill certification could reduce fraud and exploitation risks, especially for migrants lacking technical skills who are vulnerable to unscrupulous middlemen. To improve skill development, stakeholders suggested updating training curricula to align with modern machinery and advanced techniques in the global market. They also recommended reviewing pre-departure orientation programs and involving specialized trainers to enhance effectiveness.
To better serve the migrant workers and their families, discussants also recommended promoting the benefits of formal financial products and services, where financial institutions and local NGOs could collaborate to reach the migrant workers and families more effectively. Finally, the importance of pre-decision counseling for aspirants, prioritizing skill development training and certification, and fostering stronger integration among stakeholders to improve financial literacy and facilitate entrepreneurship was mentioned.
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