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The Enriching the Middle East's Economic Future Conference held a workshop on Wednesday that discussed ways to turn refugees' crisis into economic opportunities in host countries.

Discussing the transformation of the refugees' crisis in Jordan and Lebanon into economic opportunities, Jim Pickup, president and CEO of the Middle East Investment Initiative (MEII), chaired the session with the participation of Director of Identity Center for Human Development, Muhammad Hussein; Emily Arnold-Fernandez, founder and executive director of Asylum Access; and Ziad Ayoubi, head of community services unit at United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Participants discussed status of refugees in the world and their relationship with the labor market in host countries and the extent of their participation in it, noting that there are about 16 million refugees in the world, less than 1 percent of which are hosted in developed countries, with the majority concentrated in developing countries.

They discussed the importance of addressing misconceptions about refugees' employment, which some see it as a crisis but, in many cases, it may constitute opportunities to be exploited.