Panama City, 22 March, 2024 - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Tigo, a multinational telecommunications company, signed a cooperation agreement that establishes a general framework to conduct activities related to education, development of business skills, digital empowerment and inclusion that promote the socioeconomic integration of migrants.

In this sense, IOM and Tigo will carry out in-person and virtual training activities on a digital platform for entrepreneurs developed by Tigo. The sustainability of a business and the development of digital skills will be topics addressed throughout the training activities. These actions will benefit migrants and host communities in Panama.

This agreement is signed in the framework of the Integrated Responses on Migration from Central America (IRM) program implemented by IOM with the support of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The program aims to contribute to safe, orderly, and regular migration in Central America towards addressing gaps in fundamental aspects of sustainable reintegration and integration needs of migrants.

Furthermore, training programs will be developed on education, entrepreneurship, economic empowerment of women and capacity building. The courses strengthen business and digital skills through training processes.

Giuseppe Loprete, Director of the Panama Administrative Centre (PAC) and IOM Chief of Mission in Panama, said that "migrants facilitate innovation, drive development and promote economic growth. Society as a whole benefits when all actors, especially the private sector, recognize this and participate in the proper management of migration."  For her part, Mariel Díaz, Director of Corporate Affairs at Tigo Panama, said that "our collaborative approach is to allow migrants to have access to training programs and digital skills that will allow them to navigate safely and access a universe of information and opportunities that can help improve their lives, their families and communities”.

The signing of this cooperation agreement between IOM Panama and Tigo aligns with IOM's Private Sector Engagement Strategy 2023-2027 and recognizes that addressing migration, due to its multidimensional nature, requires the interaction of different agents of society to create the necessary partnerships between different actors who have shared values and use their knowledge and skills to foster a better understanding of human mobility.

For more information, contact IOM Panama's communications team at iompanama@iom.int