The workshop happened in occasion of the launch of the 2016 Report on Immigration and Entrepreneurship, published by CNA and IDOS Research and Study Center with the support of Moneygram. The report, analysing in depth the determining factors immigrant entrepreneurship in Italy and in the European context, is one of the first pieces of research of its kind. It shows a clear trend towards the growth of migrant-owned enterprises in Italy: not only 10% of all enterprises are migrant owned, but they have grown by 21% between 2011 and 2015, while the total number of companies has decreased by 0.9% in the same amount of time. On the other hand, migrant-owned enterprises still suffer from some specific challenges, ranging from their small size to their short lifetime spans, when compared to native-owned companies.
These issues and many more were discussed at the roundtable, which saw the participation of a series of NGOs, policy makers and institutions actively working on the field of migrant entrepreneurship. The event was an occasion for the exchange of best practices and the comparison between different realities in the EU, ranging from the local level, represented by some representatives of cities and regions, to the European Commission’s DG HOME.
The list of speakers at the event included:
- Gkofas Panagiotis, EESC SMEs and Craft Category, President European SMEs Academy Avignon
- George Dassis, President of EESC
- Giuseppe Oliviero, Vice President CNA
- Ugo Melchionda, IDOS Research Centre
- Laura Corrado, Head of Unit B1 for Legal Migration and Integration- DG HOME, Cabinet, European Commission
- Arnold De Boer, UEAPME
For more information, it is possible to find a summary of the report here.
