12th GFMD Summit, Quito, Ecuador 21-24 January 2020

All Day

Event Details

GFMD 12^th Summit, Quito, Ecuador.

Under the Chairmanship of Ecuador, the 12th GFMD Summit, Quito, Ecuador was held on the 21-24 January 2020 at the Centro de Convenciones Metropolitano de Quito. The theme for the 2019 Summit was, “Sustainable approaches to human mobility: Upholding rights, strengthening state agency, and advancing development through partnerships and collective action”.

The GFMD Summit is an annual multi-stakeholder international conference led by member states that bring together business representatives, government officials, civil society and international organisations. More than 1000 delegates attended the 12th GFMD Summit.

The Business Advisory Group on Migration scheduled an ambitious programme with the view of influencing the outcome on consistent and transparent migration policies that reflect sound business practices. Speakers from global businesses, government representatives and academics led the discussions in the scheduled events.

The program for the 12th GFMD summit: 21-24 January :

Tech Garden: Tech and innovation start-ups showcasing their businesses in HR, Fintech, Edtech. Leveraging technology solutions for migration governance.

Tuesday 21 January:

08.30-12.30 hrs: Mentoring for Start-ups (Swissotel).

11.00-12.30 hrs: The Global business meeting (Swissotel)

12.30-13.30 hrs: Business Luncheon (Swissotel, Quito)

14.00-15.00 hrs: Registration/accreditation

15.00-17.00 hrs: Opening ceremony

17.00-17.30 hrs: Launch of the Tech Garden

Wednesday 22 January:

08.30-09.30 hrs: Regional Roundtable Middle East (Looking forward).

09.30-10.30 hrs: Regional Roundtable Africa (Stock-taking and Looking forward).

11.00-12.30 hrs: Flagship Business event on “The impact of migration policies on the ability for businesses to recruit or retain skills”

14.00-15.00 hrs: Regional Roundtable Latin America (Stock-taking and looking forward).

15.00-16.00 hrs: Regional Roundtable for Asia (Looking forward).

Thursday 23 January:

09.00-13.00 hrs: Common space. Private sector led sessions

13.30-14.30 hrs: Start-up pitching sessions. Judging.

14.30-16.30 hrs: Common space cont.

17.00-18.00 hrs: Presentation of Tech Award.

18.00 hrs: Closing Ceremony

The Business program was well received by business delegates who shared their experiences, disseminated information and re-invigorated discussions relating to skills mobility, skills development and re-development, skills recognition and skills equivalence. The findings and lessons learnt from the regional activities in 2019 of the Business Advisory Group steered the discussions. The topics addressed business realities in skills gaps, regular migration paths and the legal framework on migration.

The Business Advisory Group on Migration registered over 60 private sector delegates.

Location

Quito, Ecuador

Speakers

Roberto Suarez-Santos

Secretary-General,
International Organization of Employers

Ms Ellen Yost

represented Mr. Austin Fragomen,
Chairman of the Business Advisory Group on Migration

Ms Yanira Caraza

Events & Analyst Co-ordinator, Latam, Seedstars

Stephan Cryne

President & CEO of Canadian Employee Relocation Council (CERC)

Alberto Echavarria Saldarriaga

Vice President National Employers Association of Colombia (ANDI)

Ms. Ronnie Goldberg

Senior Counsel, United States Council of International Business (USCIB)

Santiago Gomez

Community Events Manger LATAM, Seedstars

Ambassador Neveen El-Husseiny, Minister Plenipotentiary

Director for Refugees, Migration and Combating Human Trafficking, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cairo, Egypt

Natalia Hofmann

Director on Social and Labor Relations

Murtaza Khan

Managing Partner, Fragomen Middle East and Africa

Manuel Terán Moscoso

External Advisor, Federación Nacional de Cámaras de Industrias, Ecuador

Ms Ana Polanco

Expert in Technical Cooperation in the Migration Program,
Enabel Morocco (Belgium).

Ms. Lindiwe Sephomolo

Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Lesotho Employers and Business (ALEB)

Mohammed Touzani

Confédération Générale des Entreprises du Maroc (CGEM)

Play Video

Bringing Business to the GFMD

Watch this video to learn more about bringing business to the GFMD. The GFMD Business Mechanism was endorsed at the 2015 GFMD Summit in Istanbul as a platform for businesses to engage with Governments and other stakeholders on migration. We address issues of workforce mobility, skills and labour market needs matching, fair recruitment and decent work conditions, social welfare and public perception.