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The event “Promoting Integration of Immigrants in Europe and Asia” was attended by 31 participants. The key note speech was given by Mr. Jasenko Selimovic, State Secretary at the Swedish Ministry of Employment. Among others, the Taiwanese Immigration Agency, Federal Office for Migration and Refugees of Germany, Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Korea, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy of Poland, Ministry of the Interior of France, European Economic and Social Committee, and the Hamburg Welcome Center were represented at the event. Additional participants came from Belgium, Hong Kong, Italy, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, and Thailand.

The discussions concentrated on language courses, civic knowledge, a whole-of-government approach, and tools for successful integration. It became obvious that countries in both regions try to attract immigrants, but that only few of them have implemented comprehensive integration policies. Countries should foster their exchange on this issue to learn from each other´s experiences and governments need to cooperate with the business sector as well as civil-society organizations to be successful in integrating foreigners.