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WeChat, an innovative mobile social communication app with 300 million registered users accounts worldwide, today announced that it has succeeded in becoming one the most downloaded mobile social app in the top global destinations for Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), according to the latest statistics from market intelligence and mobile applications analytics provider AppAnnie. Likely due to the intense need of Filipinos to stay in touch with their families in the Philippines, WeChat was among the top downloads in eight of the top 10 markets with the highest populations of Filipino overseas workers, including Malaysia, Taiwan, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar
The Philippines has branded overseas workers as the new heroes of the country or ‘Bagong Bayani’. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, over 10 million overseas Filipino workers -- equivalent to a quarter of the country’s labor force -- pumped in over $21 million in 2012. OFW remittances represent 8.5% of GDP, compensate for trade deficits and help the country accumulate over $80 billion in currency reserves. In a recent report from The Economist, the significant financial contributions of OFWs have been the sole reason for the country’s investment-grade credit rating upgrade recently made by Fitch – a first in the country’s history.
