MANILA: The European Union said Thursday it would help fund a project to encourage families of millions of Filipino overseas workers to save money and use it to develop their hometowns.

While Filipino expatriates remitted close to 1.03 trillion pesos ($23.8 billion) to the Philippines last year, only a trickle went into savings accounts, according to United Nations, EU and Filipino officials at the project launch. Rebeca Grynspan, associate administrator for the UN Development Program, said the Philippines was one of eight countries supplying labor overseas that would get funding over the next three years under an $10 million global “migration and development initiative.” The Philippine program, expected to cost about $900,000, will be funded by the EU and Switzerland and run by the Philippine government’s Commission on Filipinos Overseas.

The commission will hire non-government organizations to help local governments design financial training program for the families of about 10.4 million Filipinos who live abroad, the commission’s head Imelda Nicolas told reporters.

While remittances have helped improve lives in a country that suffers from widespread poverty, Nicolas said just three to five percent of the money went into savings. The training modules would also teach families of overseas workers where to invest their savings, she added.