13th GFMD Summit, United Arab Emirates (on-line)

Business participants to the GFMD can now register here to take part in this international event. Registration is open until 11 January.

IMPORTANT: The dates of the meeting have changed due to it becoming a virtual meeting.  Do not forget to adjust your calendars to the new dates.

The Summit programme is available here. Please note that the schedule for activities is indicated in CET time zone. The Chair has organised principal activities during a “prime time” to accommodate participants in all time zones to the greatest degree possible.  You will see that other activities may be timed or even tailored for participants in certain time zones.

Backround

The private sector is a major actor in the Summit, one of the four GFMD member groups participating in Global Forum activities together with governments, mayors and local authorities and civil society leaders from around the world.

This year’s Summit programme has a special focus on labour migration, the participation of business and mayors, regional perspectives, and dialogue. 

The Business Advisory Group on Migration, hosted at the International Organisation of Employers (IOE), has been organising opportunities for leaders of employer federations and business to dialogue with governments during this global event. In general, there are two types of such opportunities for business participants within the formal Summit programme this year.  You will see that the design of one of the opportunities—under # 2, “Networking” is, at our request, entirely new this year. 

1. Summit activities organized by the UAE Chair open to all Summit participants. Among them:

• Monday 18 January: Opening ceremony. Before prime time. Pre-recorded.

• Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, 19 – 21 January, 6 government roundtables:

Two each concurrently during prime time, with interventions from participants possible, if time permits, for those who indicate on their registration forms that they wish to speak.

• Tuesday, 26 January: Closing ceremony, prime time; plus, session on International Migration Review Forum of the Global Compact for Migration (GCM/ IMRF Reporting)

2. Specific business activities organized by the Business Mechanism. In particular:

• Thursday, 21 January: Business “Networking”

This is completely new. 2 two-hour sessions, just before and after prime time, primarily for regional dialogues between regional employer federations and national governments, by invitation only. Details will follow. These are focused expressly on informal dialogue directly with national governments. Some of the regional dialogues, e.g., for Asia and the Middle East, will be introduced with highlights of new research we have completed with employer federations and business partners on business perspectives and migration policy, or a consolidation of more global such research in other sessions.

Friday, 22 January: Business meeting and IOE-SEEDSTARS. 3 prime time hours open to all:

• Two 45-min Davos-style plenary sessions of business. Details will follow.
• Two 40-min rounds of IOE-SEEDSTARS pitching of start-up businesses focused on migration related issues. Having received enormous positive feedback on this part of the GFMD programme last year, this competition will showcase how technology and entrepreneurship can contribute to better migration management.

There are other activities to which participants are invited in the current Summit programme. Further information will be shared as soon as available, both by email and at this website address (GFMD Business Mechanism website), for the overall Summit programme and for the specific business activities.

We welcome and look forward to your participation.  If you have any questions, please contact Ms. Bouchra Marclay at marclay@ioe-emp.com