The report argues that internal migration can play an important role in poverty reduction and economic development; internal migration should therefore not be controlled or actively discouraged. Policy should instead concern itself with ways of maximizing the potential benefits of migration to the individual concerned and society at large. While there have been few formal efforts to estimate the economic contribution of migrant labour, it is evident that many developing countries would probably not have had the roads, buildings, manufacturing and trade centres that they have today had it not been for migration. By not acknowledging the vast role played by migrant labour in driving agricultural and industrial growth, governments escape the responsibility of providing basic services to millions of poor people who are currently bearing the costs of moving labour to locations where it is needed most.