Millions of South Asians live outside their home countries. They could be key to region's pandemic recovery. The pandemic has created unprecedented economic difficulties globally.

The countries in South Asia are among the most affected. South Asia's GDP contracted by 5.6 per cent in 2020. Governments and development organizations have responded but more is needed.

One option may be turning to the people who have special attachments to the country - their diaspora, or what governments refer to as 'non-residents' who have migrated overseas.

More than 25 million South Asian people are estimated to live outside of their home country with the majority of them being migrant workers in the US, Europe, Middle East, and other countries.

South Asian governments already have investment instruments targeting non-residents in place. The Bangladesh government offers the US dollar investment bonds and premium bonds, which target Bangladeshi nationals and foreign nationals with Bangladeshi origin residing abroad.

- blog.adb.org/blogs