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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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India to deliberate tax measures as investors fret

A case of the stock market willies may be especially harmful to novice investors. After all, the classic thinking is that younger people should have riskier portfolios stuffed with stocks because they have so many years to ride out the ups and downs of market cycles. Across the pond, the Brits have come up with an interesting solution to this problem through a major overhaul of the retirement savings system, the National Employment Savings Trust.

Mark Fawcett, NEST's chief investment officer, explains that during the credit crisis of 2008, many young retirement savers stopped making contributions or moved their nest eggs to cash. That meant they locked in their losses and missed the stock market rebound that has taken place in the U.K., just as it has in the U.S.

So, Fawcett says, NEST has re-engineered some investments, keeping in mind the fearfulness of young investors. Instead of offering target-date funds that start out heavy on stocks and gradually grow more conservative as the years pass, the plan puts newbie investors into conservative funds that become aggressive as investors mature.

Here's how it works. A 22-year-old retirement saver may start with contributions to a target-date-type fund with a small percentage of stocks and, therefore, low risk. By the time the saver turns 27, the portfolio has a moderate allocation to stocks and increased but moderate risk. And by age 30, the saver is invested almost entirely in stocks.

But wait. Aren't investors missing out on big returns when they're young? "Maybe," says Fawcett, "but there's virtually no impact on the size of the final pot." That's because retirement savings balances are relatively small when investors are starting out.

John Ameriks, head of the investment counseling and research group at mutual fund giant Vanguard, says: "If you don't feel comfortable putting 90 percent in the market when you're young, put in 45 percent, (and) never let the risk involved in the stock market stop you from starting a savings program." Original Print Headline: Savings tips help scared investors

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Money Power: Savings ideas for scared, young investors