Leveraging Digital Innovation in Migration Governance- The e-Migrate experience of India (IMRF Side Event)

Good afternoon, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen.
I warmly welcome you to our event today, organized by the Permanent Mission of India.
As the world grapples with the complexities of modern migration, digital technology offers transformative opportunities to make the process safer, fairer, and more efficient.
On behalf of Permanent Mission of India, it is my great pleasure to welcome you to our event, leveraging digital innovation in migration governance, the emigrate Experience of India.
Today's discussion will focus on how technology enabled governance can support regular migration.
To begin the program, I have the honor to invite His Excellency, Mr.
Harish Parvatani, permanent representative of India to the United Nations to deliver the welcome remarks, sir.
Thank you, Bavia.
Friends, I take this opportunity to welcome all of you to today's side event that the permanent mission of India is hosting.
At the outset, I have great pleasure in welcoming Minister of State for External Affairs of the government of India.
His Excellency, Mr.
Kithiwaansingh, welcome.
I also take the opportunity to welcome here the presence of the Senior Director from the IOM.
We regret that Digi Ami Pope is not feeling well and he would be representing the IOM on her behalf.
I also wish to welcome Vice Minister of Human Mobility of Ecuador, Hi Excellcy Mr.
Saul Pakuku, my dear friend Commissioner for Multilateral Affairs of Germany, Mr.
Floor and Loudy, the Assistant Secretary of the Department of Migrant Workers of Philippines, His Ecellncy Levinson Alcantara, and my dear brother Abdul Aziz Alvas, ambassador and permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN.
Um, Friends, this is a very important IMRF gathering that we have, and let us be very clear.
It is a situation where migration and migrants have become a politically contested terrain.
At this time, as we meet to discuss various aspects of migration and migrant welfare, what we thought would be ideal was to give a glimpse into Indian experience of using and leveraging technology to leapfrog and assist migrants in their journey.
We in India are firmly committed to legal and regular migration pathways and helping our citizens who look for opportunities abroad.
With an Indian diaspora of 34 million spread almost in all parts of the world, we have a firm and vital interest in ensuring regular migration pathways are encouraged, solidified, and strengthened through frameworks and through international cooperation.
Yet we are also very clear that the distinction between migrants and refugees should be very, very clear.
There should be no intermixing of these two groups, especially the legal regimes and frameworks that govern these two groups.
When we look at migration and how digital public infrastructure and digitization could help migrants, what the government of India has done was to use the India digital stack to work out solutions which can help migrants at population scale.
You will be seeing later the emigrate portal experience of India.
This is but one digital platform which brings together recruiting agents, migrants, regulators, and governments together so that they can work for the overall welfare of a smooth migration experience for those who are seeking economic opportunities abroad.
The other parts of the India digital stack, which includes payment platforms, digital payment platforms are also very helpful to migrants as they look to bring down the costs of remittances, which is a significant source of revenue not only for India, but for many other developing countries.
We have today Philippines to give their perspective and Ecuador to give their perspective on the remittance scenario.
We have also ensured that consular assistance and consular measures meant for migrants are also very much part of the India digital stack, whether it is passport issuance, consular grievances and complaints, or even visas.
All of these are part of the digital stack that we have developed.
In keeping with our approach to South South cooperation, we have not patented these digital public platforms.
We have made it available for free, put it on the net in an open source format, made available to our friends and partners so that they can adapt it according to their needs and requirements.
This is very much a part not only of our bilateral, but also of our UN mediated South South cooperation frameworks that we have in assisting our friends and partners in the Global South.
I won't take much of your time.
I want to once again welcome all of you and say that today's experiences and today's addresses by the various panelists will give you a flavor of how each country is innovating to help migrants.
These experiences and best practices, we hope would be of use to all countries and to all of you.
Thank you very much for your presence.
Thank you, sir, for your remarks and for setting the context, setting the stage for today's discussion.
I would now like to invite all of you to view a short video on India's emigrate platform highlighting its key features and role in supporting safe and legal migration.
For supporting migrant workers at every step, Ministry of External Affairs has launched a transformative initiative in the form of emigrate Project to better protect workers from the complexities and challenges they face in search of employments abroad.
Emigrate aims to empower Indian migrant workers through legal migration, while simplifying and streamlining the migration process through e governance.
A mobile app has been developed to make the emigration process easier.
Through this mobile application, you can now track the application status, search for recruitment agents and foreign employers, as well as lodge complaints and get the necessary information online all with just one click.
To further improve the facilities, emigrate portal has been integrated with multilingual features through Haasni DT logger, Common Services Center, CSEs, and Uba, Emigrate Project, an initiative of the Overseas Employment and Protector General of Immigrants, OE and PGE Division of the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India, connects all the key stakeholders of emigration electronically on a single platform.
Therefore, always remember to use emigrate portal while searching for employments abroad because Indian diaspora not only contributes integrally to the economy and development journey of India, but also of the destination countries.
In addition, they work at enhancing the important links of diplomatic, social and cultural relations between the two countries.
Emigrate, simple, secure migration.
I now have the honor to invite His Excellency, Mr.
Kilwarthin Singh, Minister of State for External Affairs of India, to deliver the keynote address.
So the floor is yours.
Good afternoon and welcome everyone.
Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends.
It's a privilege to address this gathering on the margins of the Second International Migration Review Forum.
And we have come together to reflect on one of the most defining features of our time, which is global mobility and also the shared responsibility to ensure safe, orderly, and regular migration of our peoples.
The Indian migration story is both vast and dynamic.
We have a diaspora of over 34 million people spread all across the globe, encompassing more than 200 countries, and our global community has served to connect economies, cultures, and ideas through many centuries.
Their contributions through remittances, investments, and knowledge exchange continues to play a vital role not only in India's development, but also in the prosperity of the societies and the countries that have integrated it.
Over the years, India has adopted a holistic approach to migration governance, one that places the welfare, protection, and empowerment of the immigrants at its core.
This approach recognizes that migration is not merely a movement of the people, but it is a continuum that spans pre departure preparation, safe transit, dignified employment, and eventual return and reintegration back in our societies.
Strategic use of digital innovation is the key pillar of our governance.
It has transformed reactive systems to anticipatory, transparent, and inclusive frameworks that serve our citizens more effectively.
It is in this context that India's emigrate platform stands out as a pioneering initiative.
It provides an end to end digital ecosystem, which enhances transparency and recruitment, enables verification of employers and the recruitment agents, and also ensures the integrity of the employment contracts.
The platform integrates secure documentation, verifies employment offers, incorporates zero cost digital payment solutions, and offers multilingual support 24 and seven.
This goes on to ensure that protection and mobility is facilitated of our migrants.
The platform functions as an end to end ecosystem, allowing recruitment either directly by registered foreign employers or the registered recruitment agencies.
The foreign employers can register on the emigrate portal to recruit Indian workers in a streamlined and regulated manner.
And once they are registered, they can raise their manpower demand online, either through authorized recruitment agents or by applying directly for a permit to recruit.
Similarly, recruitment agencies can also register on the portal, ensuring that immigration clearance for overseas recruitment is conducted through a transparent and approved system.
A key pillar of this system is the licensing and monitoring of recruitment agents.
Only authorized registered agents approved and periodically renewed through the portal are permitted to facilitate overseas recruitment.
This digitally maintained list of authorized recruitment agents publicly accessible on the portal enhances transparency and allows workers to verify agents before engaging with them, and this significantly reduces fraudulent practices.
Currently, we have 298,000 registered foreign employers and 2,457 active recruitment agents which are registered on the emigrate portal.
The emigrate portal has also been integrated with a broader digital ecosystem through its convergence with systems such as national job portals, digital skilling hubs, and secure document repositories, and also multilingual interfaces.
This platform ensures that the migrants are better prepared and better protected throughout the journey.
The emigrate mobile application has also been developed which allows the stakeholders to have easy access to major services available on the portal, which includes tracking of application status, obtaining a list of registered, and as well as blacklisted recruitment agents, filing of grievances, and other such services.
India's digital public infrastructure reflects a larger vision, one way technology bridges gaps, streamlines access, and brings governance closer to the people.
The use of emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, helps to enhance our ability to deliver personalized services, detect risks, and respond proactively to the needs of our nationals.
Our efforts are anchored in inclusivity, accessibility, and trust to ensure that even the most vulnerable migrants can benefit from these systems.
And today's event is an opportunity not only to share India's experience, but also to learn from the diverse practices of all the other member states.
Excellencies, migration is inherently transnational, and to unlock the full potential is governance must be rooted in cooperation and mutual learning.
Through exchange of knowledge and best practices, we can collectively strengthen systems that uphold dignity, protect rights, and provide safer pathways for our migrants.
I look forward to the discussions ahead and to the insights that will emerge from this exchange from all the honorable delegates.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, sir for highlighting India's experience in leveraging digital innovation for migrant welfare and governance.
I now invite Mr.
Kim Elling, Senior Director of Strategy and External Engagement of IOM, to deliver his remarks.
Thank you so much, Honorable Minister of State, Ambassador Excellencies, colleagues and friends, allow me, first of all to convey the greetings and apologies of my Director General, Amy Pope, who would very much wanted to join you today.
She's very passionate about the issue that India has put before us here, and we're really grateful to India for gathering us together.
Um, at meetings like this, quite often, we talk about global frameworks, political commitments, ambitious declarations, and these are important.
We shouldn't underestimate how crucial they are, but for many migrants, the real questions are much more immediate and inherently practical.
Can I find trustworthy information? Can I be sure the job I was promised is actually real and exists? Will my contract be honored, if something goes wrong, will someone help me? Um, and these are exactly the kind of questions that initiatives such as India's emigrate platform are seeking to address.
By making recruitment more transparent, improving access to verified opportunities, strengthening oversight, helping workers access support before problems escalate.
India is demonstrating how technology can be used not simply to modernize systems, but to better protect people, and that matters enormously.
The scale of it matters as well.
Every year, and these figures are really amazing.
Emigrate supports more than 2.5 million immigration clearances, showing the potential to protect migrants while managing movement efficiently at scale.
India is, of course, home to one of the world's largest diasporas.
Millions of Indian workers contribute every year to economies, communities, families around the world.
The opportunities migration creates are immense, but so are the risks when systems fail people.
What is especially encouraging is the focus on addressing those risks early before departure, when migrants are often most vulnerable to misinformation, fraud, excessive fees, or contract substitution.
This is really smart policy.
It's also an important contribution to strengthening migration governance in practical ways that people actually feel in their daily lives.
India's experience offers lessons far beyond one country.
Around the world, actually, governments are looking for better ways to make migration safer, fairer and more orderly while expanding regular pathways and protecting workers.
There's growing demand for solutions that are practical, scalable, and centered on people.
And because migration is inherently cross border, no country can build safer migration pathways alone.
The future really depends and that is at the heart of IMRF this week's on stronger cooperation between countries of origin and destination and systems that work better together.
IOM is very proud to have worked alongside India to strengthen migration systems that are safer, fairer and more responsive to people's needs at the national level across regional platforms and in global processes such as this one, and we see tremendous potential to deepen that cooperation even further in the years ahead.
India's leadership on migration is increasingly important globally.
A IOM, we certainly stand ready to support that leadership in every way we possibly can.
Ultimately, this work is not about digital platforms for their own sake.
It's about whether a young worker leaving home for the first time can do so safely, whether families can trust that migration will improve their future and whether we build systems that treat migrants not as numbers, but as people, and that's the standard we should all aim for.
Today, India is helping to move us closer to it.
Thank you so very much.
Thank you, Mr.
Allen, for your remarks.
May I now invite His Excellency, Mr.
Saul Paguku, Vice Minister of Human Mobility of Ecuador to deliver his remarks.
Excellency.
Thank you for the floor.
Mr.
Kirti Baran Singh, friend of mine, which we had the pleasure to meet yesterday.
The Ambassador Has Parvatani sorry for the pronunciation, permanent representative of India to the UN.
Mr.
Florian Lau, Commissioner for Multilateral Affairs of Germany, Mr.
Levinson Al cantar, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Immigrant Workers, Philippines, Ambassador Abdullazz Al Waszil permanent representative of Saudi Arabia, and Kim Liling, Senior Director for Strategy, General Engagement from OhioM.
Thank you very much for having this side event on behalf of the government of Ecuador, We have listened with great interest and jealousy, good jealousy, I have to say, to the information shown regarding the various initiatives led by the government of India to promote safe, orderly, and regular migration, and to protect the rights of its workers aboard.
But I was referring specifically to the video that we just saw.
Very upscale technology used for this.
In this regard, I would like to briefly share the Ector experience with a circular immigration program as well as with the incorporation of technology into various services aimed at population and human mobility.
Regarding labor mobility, Ector views labor mobility as a strategic instrument for shared development, capable of addressing labor market needs in destination countries while creating safe and formal opportunities for citizens and enabling the transfer of skills and knowledge to communities of origin.
In line with this approach, the country has consolidated longstanding partnerships with Spain, an international benchmark for circular labor mobility since 2001, as well as with Italy, Germany, and the United States, Israel, Australia, across key sectors such as agriculture, care services, industry, and general services as well.
These partnerships have strengthened Ecador's institutional framework and capacity to manage safe, orderly and right based labor mobility.
Progress has been tangible, including expanded labor insertion sectors, a positive outlook for 2026, and a transformative impact on participants who returned with new skills, experience, and productive capital that contribute to local development.
At the same time, key challenges remain, particularly related to expanding coverage, strengthening the monitoring of labor condition in destination countries and ensuring the initiatives medium term sustainability.
Again, this backdrop, Ecuador expresses its interest in further learning from India's experience in coordinating actors and ensuring interoperability across the labor migration cycle through integrated platforms that bring together information service opportunities and protection mechanism.
Regarding the digitalization of services and use of AI, before I read what is written, one of our initiatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and from this actual government was to put all our consular service in a digital platform.
We have gone 0-100%.
But when I said that I am jealous, after seeing this digital platform, I meant it in a good way.
We have gone 0-100% but we still need to develop and make our system EVs platform more up to date.
I would like to share more experiences with India later on, even though we're working very closely with the IOM and has been helpful to develop the one that we're using right now.
So going back to the speech, in this regard, particular emphasis has been placed on promoting access to migration related data services through the website of Ectors by the Ministry of Human Mobility, which hosts several resources, including Acho program and services catalog, the digital service section, the service catalog for Ecuadorians abroad, and the Human Mobility Services Statistical System.
This system provides data on services such as administrative, notarial and judicial acts, civil registry services abroad, apostle and legalization of documents, assistance to Ecuadorian in vulnerable situations, among others, constituting efficient platforms where the population can access information and complete procedure more swiftly.
In addition, an institutional chat board powered by AI has been introduced as a 247 immediate response tool to address inquiries related to consular requirements and procedures.
This service has been operational since May 2024.
Finally, we would like to reiterate our sincere appreciation for the inclusion of Ecuador in this meaningful dialogue.
Which has not only enabled the identification of good practices, but also open concrete opportunities for deeper and more direct exchanges with countries and partners present with a view to further strengthening our institutional capacity to share, learning, and operational procedures.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you, Excellency for sharing your do's experience on labor mobility and digitization.
May I now invite Mr.
Florian Lodi, Commissioner for Multilateral Affairs of Germany to deliver his works.
Thank you.
Excellency, Minister of State, Ministers, Ambassador, ambassadors, thank you so much for the invitation and at the outset, let me be clear.
I have the pleasure and the honor to present a success story here today, three words migration, India and Germany.
Let me start with the emigrate platform that has been mentioned before, which clearly embodies the spirit of the Global Compact for safe, orderly, and regular migration.
It provides transparent and accessible information about regular migration pathways.
It does facilitate matchmaking between job seekers and employers, and it simplifies and accelerates the migration processes.
The digitalization of the processes is an indispensable step to make it migration as fast, cost efficient, and user friendly as possible.
In this regard, I emigrate also has the potential to serve as an example for all of our efforts.
Over the last few years, our strategic partnership has expanded in scope and deepened across a wide range of fields.
India has become one of Germany's key political and economic partners, there can be no doubt, as we share core values and interests, freedom, democracy, and the upholding of the rules based international order.
However, there's one area what makes our partnership very special, and that is our close cooperation on migration.
India is one of our most important partners when it comes to skilled worker migration, as my chancellor, Friedrich Smerz pointed out during his recent visit to India in January this year.
I think several key developments have contributed to India's so special position in my country.
In 2022, Germany signed its first ever comprehensive migration and mobility partnership agreement with India, facilitating the movement of skilled professionals, students, researchers between our two countries.
We share the conviction that migration must be regulated.
And organized in a better way and that the living conditions of migrants must be improved.
In 2024, two years later, Germany modernized our immigration law, introducing new pathways for skilled workers.
We keep on facilitating relevant processes for migrants like degrees recognitions or accelerating and digitalizing visa processes.
Finally, Our government adopted its very first country specific skilled labor migration strategy, and here too, India is the country of choice for Germany.
Our unprecedented corporation amounts to a triple win scenario, a win for the thousands of young Indian workers who came to Germany.
I see it on the streets of Berlin every day, and it warms my heart each time I see it.
A win for Germany which is challenged by labor shortage and an aging population.
And a win for India, I hope, which faces a labor surplus and is looking to provide work opportunities for Indians abroad.
I think we can provide on our end, a wealth of experience, knowledge, and opportunities when it comes to vocational training to professional or academic qualifications.
In 2025 alone, 180,000 Indians have contributed to Germany's workforce, which is an increase of 6565 0% over the last ten years.
Overall, Indian migrants in Germany are highly qualified, especially in science and technologies.
The extraordinary qualifications are mirrored in average incomes, which are above the German median.
Interesting to note.
Likewise, the number of Indian students studying at German universities has quadrupled.
With more than 60,000 students for three years in a row, Indians make up the largest group of international students in my country.
More than half of them find employment in Germany after their studies, so they stay in my country.
Other parts of the labor market benefit as well.
Close to 10,000 Indian apprentices are working and acquiring skills in one of the world's in a very humble way, most renowned vocational training systems, which Germany is known for, by the way.
We feel honored by this high interest and it motivates us to continue expanding our efforts in this direction.
Our government knows that talent is in high demand, but we and our companies make an attractive offer.
Germany is known for the excellent public education system, offers attractive career prospectives in world class industries and protects workers rights and welfare.
Together with our Indian counterparts, we are continuously improving skilled labor migration between two countries through recognition of professional qualifications, the availability of German language courses, and examination spots in India, and effective visa processing.
Our governments are already in discussion on how to link the Indian platform like emigrate with our own equivalent platforms such as the Make it in Germany website, and we look forward to pursue new avenues for closer cooperation, such as job matching, outreach activities, and language upskilling in the future.
A final word, as the Global Compact puts it, it is crucial that challenges and opportunities of international migration unite us.
In this spirit, we view successful products like emigrate as yet another incentive for us to work innovatively and collaboratively towards successful migration pathways.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Miss Louie, for highlighting the India, Germany success story on migration and mobility.
I would like to now invite Mr.
Levenny Alcantara, Assistant Secretary, Department of Migrant Workers of the Philippines, to deliver his remarks.
Sir.
Thank you.
Thank you, Madam Moderator, Excellencies, the Philippines is grateful to the government of India for this opportunity to lend support and reinforce government's efforts worldwide in leveraging digital innovation in migration governance.
We congratulate our hosts in the successful launch of the Emigrate.
Like our peers in India, us in the Philippines strive to make good of all possible means to make regular, safe, and orderly migration as inclusive and as accessible as possible.
Including digital tools and platforms that make movements towards legitimate and decent employment easier for migrant workers.
By sharing these institutionalized programs, we seek to invite collaboration with all stakeholders and duty builders worldwide and partner towards further improving them.
So allow us to share some of the elements of the digital labor migration governance in the Philippines.
We have been mandated to in the creation of the Department of Migrant Workers in the Philippines, we have been mandated to enhance information and resource sharing among related agencies and partners.
So with that policy basis, we would like to share the end to end digital experience of both our licensed recruitment agencies as well as our migrant worker applicants themselves.
This presentation walks us through the digital experience of overseas Filipino workers throughout their migration cycle from deciding to work overseas until their return and reintegration.
For those number one, for those who are still contemplating on whether overseas employment is an option, the pre employment orientation seminar exists as a free mandatory online program for Filipinos planning to work abroad, which is designed to educate them on migrant workers rights, anti illegal recruitment, and overseas employment realities.
The model is composed of general information, practical precautions, how potentials may take care of how potential applicants may take care of themselves.
What government offices are nearest in their potential worksites.
Number two, there is also digital documentation and credentials.
In the Philippines, the e passport and the e apostele have been launched.
The Philippine passport has an integrated circuit chip which is compliant to international standards and the manner to apply for the e passport, likewise, is aided by online application and queuing.
As to the credentials of potential applicants, an E apostle has been launched in the Philippines.
In 2024, the first E apostle service in the Asean region has allowed applicants to apply online for Philippine E certificates and documentary requirements for them to get passports, as well as be employed.
This year, the system was further improved to launch the full digital apostle for um in compliance with the Hague Apostle Convention that requires all 128 plus member countries to recognize electronic apostles issued by other member states.
So number three, when an applicant, for example, has decided to venture into overseas employment, there's an registry system.
The registry system simplifies recruitment processes and enables OFWs to access and retain their records securely online.
And through this system, each overseas Filipino worker is assigned a unique OFW registration number, which serves as a centralized and secure reference for all transactions with the Department of migrant workers.
The information captured and saved in the registry system feeds into the online processing system of the DMW where licensed recruitment agencies process selected workers within approved job positions.
Number four, there is, of course, digital exit.
Our traditional overseas employment certificate is now becoming digital and accessible in handheld ubiquitous mobile devices through the OFW pass.
OFW Pass is in close coordination with our Department of Information and Communications Technology, allows our workers to have convenient and tamper proof digital OFW identification, which allows them to number five, access through our electronic gates at the Philippine airports where there are special lines for our migrant workers and the hassle of queuing among migrant workers has been lessened because of these electronic gates.
On the side of the employers, there's an online employment contract verification system.
And as we speak with the partnership of a private company, the global rollout starts in Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong, and Saudi Arabia.
And to be followed by Singapore, other parts of the Middle East, and later Europe and Asia in the second half of 2026.
The online contract verification system is, of course, one example where expertise can be shared between government and the private recruitment agencies, as well as private tech companies.
Lastly, I would like to share perhaps two more elements.
The Costa Kabyan app, meaning how are you Kabayan or how are you Brethren is a mobile handheld device which connects our migrant workers to migrant worker offices and online ready and counselors when there are welfare concerns amongst themselves when they are on site.
This one is being rolled out worldwide.
And lastly, in the current environment where displacements of workers are becoming more frequent, we have launched creating alternative labor market program or C program.
The C program targets repatriated overseas Filipino workers who choose to be employed locally or be redeployed overseas again should they choose to do so.
It's a profiling and matching as well as a referral system.
Perhaps lastly, mindful that not everyone have the ability to shift into digital transactions.
There are still physical desks and offices, hotlines, and online help desks that complement all these available services toward transitioning fully into tech based documentation, digital services for our migrant workers.
Thank you for your kind attention.
Thank you, L.
Thank you.
Thank you, sir, for sharing the end to end digitalization experience of migrant workers in Philippines.
It's very informative.
May I now invite His Excellency, Mr.
Abdulazi Al Vail, permanent representative of Saudi Arabia to the UN to telever his remarks.
So Thank you, Mr.
Madiror, Honorable Minister of State for External Affairs of India.
Excellency' distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, at the outset, allow me to commend the government of India for convening this timely and forward looking discussion.
Also, I would like to express my special thanks to my dear colleague, Ambassador Harish, for inviting me to participate in this important event.
The focus on digital innovation in migration governance is both necessary and highly relevant as we collectively strive to enhance the efficiency, transparency, and responsiveness of our systems in an increasingly interconnected world.
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia attaches great importance to advancing migration governance that is safe, orderly, and regular, while firmly grounded in respect for national laws, priorities, and the sovereign prerogatives of the states.
As a major destination country hosting a large and diverse expatriates population with over 10 million foreign workers contributing to its labor market, the kingdom recognizes both the opportunities and the responsibilities associated with labor mobility.
In this regard, Saudi Arabia has undertaken wide range reforms and itsgoing national transformation efforts to mobilize its labor market and strengthen migration governance frameworks.
These reforms have been supported by comprehensive legislative updates, institutional development, and strengthening enforcement mechanisms contributing to a more enabling and right based labor environment.
These efforts include initiatives to enhance contractual transparency, improve labor mobility, and strengthening worker protection mechanisms.
Services have been introduced to facilitate job mobility, exit procedures, contract documentation in a more transparent and regulated manners.
Such measures have contributed to reducing labor disputes and improving overall labor market efficiency.
In this context, the kingdom has developed integrated digital platforms that collectively support labor market governance.
The Kiwab platform serves as a central interface interface for labor related services, including contract authentication, job mobility, visa issuance, proficion changes, and compliance monitoring.
Since its launch in 2019, PWA platform has evolved into a fully integrated labor governance infrastructure, linking workers, employers, and regulators through a unified digital ecosystem.
By early 2026, the platform had surpassed 16 million registered workers, over 2 million establishments, and more than 12 million digitally documented employment contracts.
Within the broader Saudi digital governance ecosystem, Piwa platform operates alongside platforms such as Mustanid for domestic workers recruitment and Epsil for residency and visa services, forming an integrated framework that digitizes the entire migrant life cycle from recruitment to employment to exit.
This ecosystem approach enhances transparency and generates reliable data to support evidence based policy making.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia has placed strong emphasis on strengthening data systems, statistical capacities, including the integrated of administrative data and labor market information systems to support informed decision making and policy design.
Collectively, these reforms have contributed to measurable improvements, including higher compliance with labor standards, improved worker conditions, and increased satisfaction among immigrant workers.
We also appreciate the experience presented today by India.
The development of integrated digital systems such as the immigrant platform demonstrates the practical value of technology in supporting more effective governance across the immigration cycle.
In parallel, strengthening migration governance requires practical international cooperation, particularly between countries of origin and destination, including in areas such as information exchange, skills development, and addressing irregular migration and exploited practices.
I thank you.
Thank you You Excellency for sharing the digital practices in Saudi Arabia and labor mobility and migrant life cycle.
I thank all distinguished speakers for their valuable perspectives.
I'd like to now open the floor for comments and views from the audience.
You could press the button of the mic to indicate to indicate your readiness to make the comment, if there are any.
Ma'am, I'll give the floor to you.
Thank you so much.
Good afternoon, Honorable Minister, Excellencies, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen.
It is such a great pleasure for me to join you here today in my capacity as Director General of ICMPD in this event.
Let me begin by thanking you, distinguished ambassador, the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations for organizing this event, for bringing together us all in such important conversation to the IMRF.
We all know that India has long been a pioneer in digital innovation and its experience shows how digital public infrastructure can serve people in practical and human centered ways.
When I recently traveled to India, I was so amazed by the digital opportunities in so many fields, for example, the ease of digital payments and the United Payment interface.
In migration, digitalization, of course, matters enormously.
Digital solutions for the benefit of migrants have far reaching implications and they add to migration governance and contribute to making it safe and orderly.
The emigrate oral stands out as a powerful digital solution for governing overseas employment.
What makes emigrate especially compealing is that this digital platform is embedded within a broader governance ecosystem, linking technology with institutions and service delivery and awareness.
At ICMPD, we have constantly evalud such approaches.
In this period, we have recently launched the European Legal Gateway Office in India, together with the Honorable Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Vice President of the European Commission, which is a flagship initiative in partnership of the European Union and India, and it is the first of its kind.
It aims to facilitate safe, legal and well informed mobility from India to the EU in the ICT sector by providing clear information and pathways on skills and qualification requirements across EU member states, while also connecting European employers and institutions with the talent.
In this regard, there's a clear complementarity between India's emigrate experience and the European Union's approach, and we are already working on how we can even better LinkedIn and cooperate even more, bringing the initiatives together.
We look forward to continuing to work closely with the government of India and to learning from its impressive digital initiatives, including emigrate.
India's experience in building scalable and integrated digital systems offers valuable lessons for strengthening migration governance and service delivery.
We are proud, as I sympathy, to contribute to this agenda.
We once again would like to thank the government of India for the close cooperation The Legal Gateway Office, we think is a strong example of our commitment to safe and orderly migration, and we are grateful for the trust placed in ICMPD to implement this pioneering initiative.
Thank you so much.
Thank you, ma'am.
See no other requests for the floor.
So this will bring our session to a close.
The discussion today has highlighted how digital solutions and collaborative approaches can strengthen migration systems and better serve migration across the migration cycle.
On this note, I take the opportunity on behalf of Permanent Mission of India to extend our sincere gratitude to His Ecellcy Mr.
Quitwathiningh, Minister of State for External Affairs India, for delivering the keynote address.
We're truly grateful for your presence and insights.
I would also like to place on record a deep appreciation for other distinguished panelists.
Our Vice Minister, Mr.
Saul Pakuku, Mr.
Florian Louie, Commissioner for multilateral Affairs, Germany, Neves Alcantara, Assistant Secretary of DMW Philippines, and the representative from IOM.
We sincerely thank you for your presence, and I also sincerely thank the audience for your presence.
This made the event truly special.
And this brings the event to a close.
Thank you, one and all.