On 24 February 2009 a seminar was held at the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic whose aim it was to discuss the issue of remittances sent from the Czech Republic. The seminar was co-organized by the Multicultural Center Prague and the Ministry of Finance. The issue of remittances - money earned by migrants and sent back to their country of origin - involves a large number of discilines and stakeholders. The seminar was therefore valuable in bringing together representatives of diverse institutions which all approach the issue from a different perspective. Many experts gathered to present their experience from renowned institutions (The World Bank, Oxfam Novib, French development Agency, IOM) and to discuss the issue: representatives of the state administration, NGOs, the financial sector, migrants' organizations, the academic sector etc. Apart from mapping remittances and recommendations for further research, the main focus of the seminar was their development potential and its optimalisation (with regards also to the current economic crisis). Remittances are perhaps the most commonly cited positive aspect of the connection between migration and development. The overall amount of remittances sent to developing countries is higher than the ODA and foreign direct investment put together. For many developing countries, remittances make up a high percentage of their GDP, e.g. Moldova, which is relevant for the Czech Republic as the destination of many of Moldova's migrants. The case of Moldova was discussed in depth at the seminar by an IOM representative. Speakers from both abroad and the Czech Republic raised many interesting issues that were further developed during three discussion sessions. The representative of the World Bank set remittances in a general frame and contributed some recommendations for research. The representative of the French Development Agency spoke about practical problems and successes in implementing their programmes on remittances. The Dutch non-governmental development agenc Oxfam Novib came with the issue of the need of cooperation with migrant communities when striving to maximise the development impact of remittances. The Multicultural Center Prague introduced its pilot research of migrants' practices of remittance sending, and the Ministry of Finance outlined its activities and visions for the future. The seminar was one of the outcomes of the project CSO Development Effectiveness implemented by the Czech Forum for Development Cooperation.