“The Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Emanuela Del Re, spoke at the opening of the online conference on “Diaspora, Knowledge and Community” organised by LUISS-Guido Carli University and Le Reseau Association, dedicated to “engaging the circular migration of students and promoting the dissemination of knowledge and skills in the perspective of economic and social development”.
The Vice Minister highlighted how, in addition to financial remittances, “social remittances” are probably the most solid contribution migrants can give to their communities of origin. Not only can diasporas promote trade and direct foreign investments, create businesses and stimulate entrepreneurship, they can also transfer knowledge and skills, expertise, points of view.
“Particularly among immigrants, knowledge and intellectual capital are transferred back to the country of origin. For example, many workers in high-tech industries have started returning home after being educated and working abroad only to start new businesses and help their countries develop new business activities.” – the Vice Minister said.
For this reason, Ms. Del Re believes it has become necessary to engage diasporas in national, regional and local development planning, decision-making, policymaking and to increase public awareness on the issues of education, economics, migration and more. Diasporas should also be more involved in co-development programmes, she continued.
“In Italy, we value the role of diasporas, which, for example, are called to participate in the CNCS, the ‘Parliament of Development Cooperation.’ Many countries of origin have started considering their diasporas in their development planning activities and the elaboration of strategies and action plans. However, other countries of origin do not yet have the necessary conditions to exploit the potential of their diasporas from a development perspective. Closer cooperation between development actors who recognize the potential of diasporas will open new horizons for the development of the migrants’ countries of origin.” – the Vice Minister concluded.
