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Ahead of France voters inside the consulate. Photo: AFP

FRENCH people living in Australia voted yesterday in the second round of presidential elections. Those living in Canada, the United States and South America went to the polls on Saturday, casting their ballots a day ahead of their compatriots in France.

In Australia, where close to 15,000 people are eligible to vote, electors began arriving shortly before polls opened at 8am at Sydney's French consulate, one of eight polling centres in the country.

''I'm proud to do that,'' Marcelle Vettier, a resident of Australia for almost four decades, said in English after casting her vote. ''As a French citizen, I take that from the bottom of my heart - as well as being faithful to the country where I am.''

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Others said it was important to cast their vote in the French elections, given the global impact of the economic crisis in Europe.

''What I believe is that this election is very important because of the global crisis and now what has become the European crisis,'' said Christiane Frisch, speaking in English. ''The French position and French policies will have an impact, not just in Europe but in the whole world, including in Australia.''

Agence France-Presse

Original post:
First to vote: French expats rally for the Republic

ELIZABETH, N.J. Foreign governments that once viewed expatriates largely as a source of revenue just for the money they sent home to their families are starting to focus more on helping their citizens succeed in America so they can invest more in their homeland.

Colombian officials say an informational fair they are holding this weekend at the South American nation's consulate in New York will feature, for the first time, not just Colombian companies, but also American banks, U.S. universities and New York City government programs.

"Our government and those of other countries are starting to realize the importance of helping their communities get ahead in the United States," said Janeth Gomez, owner of a small travel, check-cashing and package mailing agency in the Little Colombia section of Elizabeth, 15 miles from Manhattan.

Colombians living abroad in the U.S. and other countries send home an estimated $3.9 billion dollars a year, according to the World Bank. But the government would like to benefit more, so it has joined the ranks of nations with large immigrant populations in the U.S. that have been reinventing how they interact with its citizens abroad.

Programs at the informational fair Saturday and Sunday include ones on investing money from New York in accounts back home; getting help for their children in applying to U.S. universities; and advice from the New York City government on health services, said Laura Montoya, spokeswoman for the consulate.

Mexico established a government institute in 2003 devoted to the needs of its population in the United States and elsewhere. India created a Ministry of Overseas Citizens in 2004 to solidify its homeland-diaspora connection. And governments from Poland to El Salvador have been studying ways to better serve, and entice investment from, citizens living outside the homeland.

With nearly a million people of Colombian origin in the U.S., an estimated 35 to 40 percent of them in the New York area, there is recognition that they are a growing constituency with the power to vote in presidential elections back home and elect a representative in the Colombian Congress.

Government outreach once focused on drawing Colombians back to their homeland, even if just for a visit, according to Maria Aysa-Lastra, an assistant sociology professor at Florida International University who has studied the Colombian model and other governments' efforts at diaspora outreach.

Those programs followed a huge migratory outflow in the late 1990s that was fueled by violence related to the narcotics trade and a civil conflict that ravaged Colombia. A tourism campaign with the slogan "The only risk you'll run is wanting to stay" featured initiatives like traveling safety caravans as the government tried to lure people back.

Now, the government is increasingly recognizing that even if an emigrant never returns to Colombia, helping them succeed in America through better access to education, small-business grants, trade incentives with Colombia or closer social ties with influential immigrant leaders in the U.S. has benefits for the home country.

See the original post here:
Nations seek to channel expats' US money more productively; Colombia plans NYC outreach

Foreign governments that once viewed expatriates largely as a source of revenue just for the money they sent home to their families are starting to focus more on helping their citizens succeed in America so they can invest more in their homeland.

Colombian officials say an informational fair they are holding this weekend at the South American nation's consulate in New York will feature, for the first time, not just Colombian companies, but also American banks, U.S. universities and New York City government programs.

"Our government and those of other countries are starting to realize the importance of helping their communities get ahead in the United States," said Janeth Gomez, owner of a small travel, check-cashing and package mailing agency in the Little Colombia section of Elizabeth, 15 miles from Manhattan.

Colombians living abroad in the U.S. and other countries send home an estimated $3.9 billion dollars a year, according to the World Bank. But the government would like to benefit more, so it has joined the ranks of nations with large immigrant populations in the U.S. that have been reinventing how they interact with its citizens abroad.

Programs at the informational fair Saturday and Sunday include ones on investing money from New York in accounts back home; getting help for their children in applying to U.S. universities; and advice from the New York City government on health services, said Laura Montoya, spokeswoman for the consulate.

Mexico established a government institute in 2003 devoted to the needs of its population in the United States and elsewhere. India created a Ministry of Overseas Citizens in 2004 to solidify its homeland-diaspora connection. And governments from Poland to El Salvador have been studying ways to better serve, and entice investment from, citizens living outside the homeland.

With nearly a million people of Colombian origin in the U.S., an estimated 35 to 40 percent of them in the New York area, there is recognition that they are a growing constituency with the power to vote in presidential elections back home and elect a representative in the Colombian Congress.

Government outreach once focused on drawing Colombians back to their homeland, even if just for a visit, according to Maria Aysa-Lastra, an assistant sociology professor at Florida International University who has studied the Colombian model and other governments' efforts at diaspora outreach.

Those programs followed a huge migratory outflow in the late 1990s that was fueled by violence related to the narcotics trade and a civil conflict that ravaged Colombia. A tourism campaign with the slogan "The only risk you'll run is wanting to stay" featured initiatives like traveling safety caravans as the government tried to lure people back.

Now, the government is increasingly recognizing that even if an emigrant never returns to Colombia, helping them succeed in America through better access to education, small-business grants, trade incentives with Colombia or closer social ties with influential immigrant leaders in the U.S. has benefits for the home country.

Read the original here:
Foreign Governments Seek to Channel Expats' Money

Govt to deliberate tax measures as investors fret Move to target tax evaders through GAAR, retroactively tax indirect transfer of assets, has spooked investors, leading to exodus of funds Reuters / Mumbai May 06, 2012, 14:44 IST

Whatever its intentions in cracking down on abuse of tax havens, India has alienated overseas investors with the timing and communication of its measures when it can ill afford to do so.

The government's move to target tax evaders through a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR), along with a plan to retroactively tax the indirect transfer of assets, has spooked investors and added to an exodus of funds, battering the rupee.

"We are hoping that because of the currency and because of inflow problems, they might either delay it by a year or do something else," said Samir Arora, an India-focused fund manager with Helios Capital Management in Singapore.

After days of what traders said was intervention to defend the rupee, the Reserve Bank of India late on Friday took steps to encourage dollar inflows, a move dealers said may do little to improve near-term weakness in the currency, which is approaching an all-time low set in December.

Meanwhile, the gloomy mood derailed the year's biggest initial public offering from India, with auto parts maker Samvardhana Motherson Finance Ltd on Friday scrapping its $311 million issue because of poor demand.

Foreign funds are usually the biggest buyers of large Indian equity deals.

Adding to investor ire, India said on Friday it may review its tax break treaty with Mauritius, the East African island country that the majority of foreign portfolio inflows are believed to be routed through.

Mauritius is the same source of fund flows India is targeting through its GAAR proposal.

"Govt going all out to make foreign investors flee India. GAAR is not yet settled and they are making statements on Mauritius treaty review," tweeted Sandip Sabharwal, head of portfolio management services at Prabhudas Lilladher Group.

Read the original here:
Govt to deliberate tax measures as investors fret

By Tony Munroe

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Whatever its intentions in cracking down on abuse of tax havens, India has alienated overseas investors with the timing and communication of its measures when it can ill afford to do so.

India's move to target tax evaders through a general anti-avoidance rule (GAAR), along with a plan to retroactively tax the indirect transfer of assets, has spooked investors and added to an exodus of funds, battering the rupee.

Starting on Monday, India's parliament will begin considering the finance bill that includes the tax proposals but final details may be a month or more away, government sources have said, which could prolong the uncertainty and aggravate a balance of payments shortfall.

"We are hoping that because of the currency and because of inflow problems, they might either delay it by a year or do something else," said Samir Arora, an India-focused fund manager with Helios Capital Management in Singapore.

After days of what traders said was intervention to defend the rupee, the Reserve Bank of India late on Friday took steps to encourage dollar inflows, a move dealers said may do little to improve near-term weakness in the currency, which is approaching an all-time low set in December.

Meanwhile, the gloomy mood derailed the year's biggest initial public offering from India, with auto parts maker Samvardhana Motherson Finance Ltd on Friday scrapping its $311 million issue because of poor demand. (L4E8G45PK)

Foreign funds are usually the biggest buyers of large Indian equity deals.

Adding to investor ire, India said on Friday it may review its tax break treaty with Mauritius, the East African island country that the majority of foreign portfolio inflows are believed to be routed through.

Mauritius is the same source of fund flows India is targeting through its GAAR proposal.

More:
India to deliberate tax measures as investors fret