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Entrepreneurship : a recognized pathway toward professional and economic inclusion
Report of the National Conference
Following the first National Conference on Asylum and Entrepreneurship held in November 2025, SINGA is publishing a report outlining the key challenges identified, alongside concrete recommendations proposed by leading stakeholders in the sector. This document serves as a roadmap for strengthening the recognition of entrepreneurship as a driver of economic and professional inclusion, which will hopefully serve to expand collaborations and research on the topic.
If you would like to get involved, please contact us by email at: info@singaswitzerland.ch.
Report of the SINGA study on refugee entrepreneurship
In 2025, SINGA conducted a nationwide study to better understand the motivations and challenges faced by refugees starting businesses in Switzerland, using an online survey and a focus group.
The findings, based on responses from people with refugee exeprience living in Switzerland who have already launched a business or are in the process of doing so, are now available in this report.
NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON
ASYLUM AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Valuing talents, strengthening the economy!
On 7 November, SINGA hosted the 1st Swiss Conference on Asylum and Entrepreneurship with the support of the State Secretariat for Migration, bringing together over 80 people, including refugee entrepreneurs, economic actors, and integration partners, to co-create a more inclusive entrepreneurial ecosystem. Powerful testimonies highlighted the initiative’s role as a source of wealth and innovation.
Program:
9:00 : Welcome speeches
- SEM, authorities, and economic partners
9:45 : Plenary Sessions
- Testimonies from entrepreneurs with a refugee experience
- Overview of the European context (Starting New) and the Swiss context (UNINE, OFS, SINGA), and legal framework
- Roundtable with field partners (incubators, economic promotion, and associations)
12:40 : Lunch
14:00 : Thematic exchange workshops
When booking your ticket, you can select three out of four workshops. Afterwards, two of these will be assigned to you definitively.
- Inclusive Financing: How to open access to financing for refugee entrepreneurs? (banks, grants, foundations)
- Social welfare and entrepreneurship: what are the expectations for job coaches and social workers after the identification of an entrepreneurial project ? (identification of a measure, support, transmission of information)
- The role of the ecosystem: what strategies can support the engagement of economic actors and authorities in their support for businesses led by refugees?
- Business Models and Income: What models should be prioritized (self-employment, cooperatives) and what sources of income are most relevant (grants, microcredit, crowdfunding, etc.) for refugee entrepreneurs?
17:00 : Results of exchanges and perspectives
17:30 : Conclusion of the day
- Closing of the exchange day, followed by a networking aperitif by Original Cooking
