Members of AFI will be well represented at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Bank’s Global Forum on Remittances 2013: Sending money home to Asia, scheduled to be held 20-23 May 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand.

Bank Negara Malaysia Deputy Governor Dato’ Muhammad Bin Ibrahim and Central Bank of Sri Lanka Governor Ajith Nivard Cabraal from the AFI Network will be panelists in the “Creating and Enabling Remittance Markets: Experiences and Lessons – Policy and Regulatory Reforms” panel alongside Byung Rhae Lee, Director-General of the Financial Services Bureau at the Financial Services Commission of the Republic of Korea.

AFI Executive Director Alfred Hannig will serve as moderator of the session currently set for 14:15-15:30 on 20 May 2013.

Discussion topics on the agenda include:

• Reforms in respective countries and their impacts on the remittance market.
• Were there any challenges in implementing the reforms?
• What are the current policy priorities for international remittances?

After the panel discusses its main points there will be an open discussion on lessons learned followed by a Q&A from the audience and Twitter.

Bank Indonesia (BI) Deputy Governor Ronald Waas is scheduled to participate in the forum’s panel discussion “High Level Forum: G20 Process and Reducing the Cost of Remittances” scheduled to be held from 9:45-10:45 on the opening morning of the event.

On day two, Reserve Bank of India Department of Settlement Systems Chief General Manager Vijay Chugh and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Payment Systems Director Bella Santos will be panelists in the “Financial Infrastructure, Innovation and New Models being developed for Cross-border Remittance Service” session at 14:15-15:45. Santos will also be involved in the “Sum-up by Panel Chairs and contributions to the Global Forum on Remittances 2013” session as a panelist from 16:30-17:15 on the forum’s third afternoon.

The forum is expected to bring together more than 400 participants, including experts and stakeholders from leading business groups, government regulators and the civil society with an intent to stimulate debate on current market realities and future opportunities.

Live streaming will be available here.