Migrações Journal

MIGRAÇÕES JOURNAL SPECIAL ISSUE IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP Edited by Catarina Reis Oliveira and Jan Rath OBSERVATÓRIO DA IMIGRAÇÃO, ACIDI I.P. www.oi.acidi.gov.pt MIGRAÇÕES Journal of the Portuguese Immigration Observatory No. 3, October 2008 Director: Roberto Carneiro Editorial Coordination: Catarina Reis Oliveira Editors of this Special Issue: Catarina Reis Oliveira and Jan Rath Contributors to this Special Issue: Ana Luísa Coutinho, Beatriz Padilla, Belkis Oliveira, Bernard Dinh, Catarina Reis Oliveira, Daniel Hiebert, Emmanuel Ma Mung, Jan Rath, João Peixoto, Jock Collins, Jorge Malheiros,José Menéndez, Luísa Valle, Manuel Brandão Alves, Maria Beatriz Rocha-Trindade, Miguel Santos Neves, Monder Ram, Panos Hatziprokopiou, Peter Ramsden, Sérgio Mateo Sanchez, Sikander Badat, Susana Figueirinha, Thomas Jaegers, Trevor Jones, Vasco Soares, Zita Carvalho Editorial Assistants: Isabel Freitas and Claire Healy Translation: Claire Healy, Catarina Reis Oliveira and Carla Martingo Graphic Design: António Souto Title Ownership and Publication: ACIDI – High Commission for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue, I.P. Rua Álvaro Coutinho, 14 1150-025 Lisbon - Portugal Frequency of Publication: Biannual ISSN: 1646-8104 Contact information: Migrações Journal Rua Álvaro Coutinho, 14 1150-025 Lisboa – Portugal Email: [email protected] Circulation: 1,000 copies Printing: Europress Legal Deposit Classification: 274574/08 2 07 Introductory Note by the High Commissioner Rosário Farmhouse, High Commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue 09 Preface by the Journal Director Roberto Carneiro, Immigration Observatory Coordinator 11 Introduction to the Special Issue Catarina Reis Oliveira and Jan Rath, Editors of the Special Issue on Immigrant Entrepreneurship 29 I. THE IMPACT OF POLICIES AND REGULATIONS ON IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURIAL INITIATIVES: INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES 31 Big potential, small reward? Business Class immigration to Canada Daniel Hiebert 49 Immigrant entrepreneurs in Australia: Regulations and responses Jock Collins 61 Ethnic minority businesses in the UK: An overview Monder Ram and Trevor Jones 73 Migrant entrepreneurship in Greece Panos Hatziprokopiou 85 French migratory policy and immigrant entrepreneurship Bernard Dinh and Emmanuel Ma Mung 99 II. IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN PORTUGAL 101 The determinants of immigrant entrepreneurial strategies in Portugal Catarina Reis Oliveira Contents Migrações _ #3 _ October 2008 3 129 Communities of Indian origin in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area – Entrepreneurial initiatives and socially creative strategies in the city Jorge Malheiros 155 Diasporas and globalisation – The Chinese Business Community in Portugal and the integration of China into the world economy Miguel Santos Neves and Maria Beatriz Rocha-Trindade 181 Entrepreneurship from a gender perspective: An initial analysis of the case of Brazilian women in Portugal Beatriz Padilla 205 III. EXAMPLES OF PROGRAMMES AND MEASURES THAT PROMOTE IMMIGRANT ENTREPRENEURSHIP 207 Out of the Ashes: Supporting specialist projects for minority ethnic entrepreneurs – The experience of the UK Phoenix Fund Programme Peter Ramsden 229 The Bolton Metro’s Ethnic Minorities Business Service Sikander Badat 235 Lanzadera: A new resource for simplifying self-employment José Menéndez 241 Immigrants, K’CIDADE and entrepreneurial activity Zita Carvalho 247 Immigrant entrepreneurship in Portugal: Factors that influence this professional choice and ASI’s activity on foot of the results of the PEI Project Ana Luísa Coutinho, Belkis Oliveira, Vasco Soares and Sérgio Mateo Sanchez Contents 4 Immigrant Entrepreneurship 255 Microcredit as a way of giving people more dignity Manuel Brandão Alves 263 Jesuit Refugee Service and microcredit Susana Figueirinha 269 Immigrant Entrepreneur of the Year Award Luísa Valle 279 IV. ISSUES PAPERS 281 Supporting entrepreneurial diversity in Europe – Ethnic minority entrepreneurship/ migrant entrepreneurship Thomas Jaegers 285 Limits and opportunities of immigrant entrepreneurship João Peixoto Contents Migrações _ #3 _ October 2008 5 6 Immigrant Entrepreneurship Rosário Farmhouse High Commissioner for Immigration and Intercultural Dialogue A dictionary of the Portuguese language defines an entrepreneur as “someone who ventures; enterprising; active”. According to this semantic definition, all immigrants without exception are entrepreneurs. To dare to set off for a foreign country in search of work and better living con- ditions is a sign of enterprise, evidence of a refusal by human beings to resign themselves to adverse circumstances in their society of birth. This gesture of setting off – so intrinsically human – represents courage. It is true that we are accustomed to seeing migrants as salaried workers, working in the toughest jobs which, most of the time, the workers of the receiving society refuse. Nevertheless, the labour integration of migrants is much richer and more com- plex than the situation of salaried workers, as there are immigrants whose vision creates employment and wealth for the receiving society. Despite the fact that every professional situation has its function and social utili- ty, I would say that we tend to value the salaried worker more, undermining the visibility of the immigrant entrepreneur who creates employment and generates wealth in our country. In truth, we have known for a long time that the bravery of immigrants is not limited to this reductive vision of the migratory phenomenon restricted to people who work for others. For a long time in contemporary societies, patent signs of the capacity for entrepreneurial initiative of many of our immigrants have been observed, though they have not always been duly valued nor publicly recognised. Here in Portugal, the new immigration law – Law no. 23/2007 of 4 July 2007 – re- cognises for the first time a distinct access regime for entrepreneurs and inde- pendent workers as opposed to salaried workers. The Plan for Immigrant Integra- tion – RCM no. 63A/2007 of 3 May – also foresees a measure (13) for incentivising immigrant entrepreneurship. In the field, the National Immigrant Support Centre note introductory Migrações _ #3 _ October 2008 7 in Lisbon already has a Support Service for Entrepreneurship that provides rele- vant information on setting up businesses and applying for micro-credit, seeking to be an incentive for the creation of self-employment with a view to immigrants’ professional realisation. This was the theme chosen for our Migrações Journal, with the title of Immigrant Entrepreneurship, already in its third issue. In this Special Issue there is a compa- rative analysis of different international policies with implications for immigrant entrepreneurship and of the important role of civil society organisations in pro- moting this reality. It remains for me to conclude with a word of appreciation for the two editors – and, I should say, entrepreneurs in the social sciences – Catarina Reis Oliveira and Jan Rath, whom I thank for the excellent work undertaken. introductory note introductory 8 Immigrant Entrepreneurship Roberto Carneiro Coordinator of the Immigration Observatory The social representation of immigrants that still prevails in the majority of Eu- ropean countries is associated with salaried work of low added value through occupation in jobs that do not attract the active native population. Although this image corresponds to the reality of the majority of immigrant workers, the truth is that the stereotype has suffered a rapid transformation. On the one hand, flows of highly qualified immigration have acquired increased impor- tance while, on the other, phenomena of immigrant entrepreneurship have been identified, which create wealth, add value and provide employment in the context of the receiving economies. Furthermore, it should not be assumed that these entrepreneurial initiatives are confined to restricted markets for ‘ethnic’ goods or services. Without questioning the relevance of Chinese restaurants or yoga schools, the analysis of the econom- ic reality in our societies has highlighted the emergence of new – and powerful - entrepreneurial phenomena in the most diverse sectors of activity, which directly or indirectly involve a strong presence of immigrants. The more open economies are and the more societies promote equality of opportunities, the higher the probability is that the playing field will be even for all of those who wish to take the risk of initiating or diversifying a business. In other words, for immigrant entrepreneurs the World is Flat or, at least, it is inclined to present itself to be less uneven than in the recent past. Furthermore, innovation economies and industries of creativity increasingly require the inter- section of cultures and the encounter with diversities to sustain them. Issue No. 3 of the Migrações Journal dedicates to the theme the attention it deserves, and it deserves to be read, and considered, by all those who are interested in the issue of population movements. Primarily, because the editing of the issue was undertaken by two researchers of the theme and consummate specialists in the study of the economy of immigration: Catarina Reis Oliveira and Jan Rath. preface preface Migrações _ #3 _ October 2008 9 Also, however, for the simple reason that a brilliant group of researchers accept- ed the invitation to contribute to the publication of this issue from the most varied angles of approach but united by their rigour and the quality of their analysis. The Migrações

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