Kathmandu, February 3:

Western Union (WU) has announced its tie-up with Golchha Organisation (GO) for dealing in remittances with a view to provide inbound money transfer services in Nepal.

A press statement issued by the company today quoted Hemant Golchha, director of Golchha Organisation, as saying that the strategic relationships with Western Union, gives Golchha Organisation an opportunity to increase its current array of services and to serve customers better and faster.

According to the World Bank’s report on Global Economics Prospects 2005, Nepal is among the top 20 countries to receive remittance. This year remittance to Nepal was $755 million that came in through legal channels and simultaneously another $700 million came through illegal means. It has been estimated that the value of remittance comes to be about 18 per cent of Nepal’s total GDP.

GO started remittance service in the name of Hulas Remittances (HR) which Golchha believes would give better remittance services in Nepal.

“The alliance with GO is a giant step towards achieving the goal of reaching out to more and more customers as it has a strong reputation across the country,” said Kiran Shetty, director, North India, Nepal and Bhutan for Western Union. Shetty said that WU’s network model ensures that the Nepali diaspora is provided with fast, convenient, legal and reliable means of money transfer to their loved ones back home.