Mediobanca CEO Alberto Nagel stressed that migrants can have a positive influence on employment rates and on labor productivity -- as long as governments invest in the integration of migrants. He referred to this as a change in the "balance of growth."

In his opening remarks at the Italian investment bank's first Corporate Social Responsibility Conference, Nagel highlighted the role that migrants can play in the long-term economic wellbeing of Italy in particular, welcoming UNHCR commissioner Filippo Grandi as a special guest of the event.

"While it is true that structured integration policies pay off in economic terms, it is also true that they must first be paid: They need large allocations of public funds and lengthy waiting periods before the results can be seen," Nagel said, urging governments to act in a more farsighted manner.

Internationally, immigrants were found to lead to an increase of almost 1% in GDP within five years, noted Gabriele Barbaresco, the director of the Mediobanca research unit upon presenting an in-depth study into the economic impact of migration commissioned by the investment bank.

However, in Italy, there's still a 0.5% decrease in productivity due to migration, in sharp contrast with international trends.

Focus on education -- for migrants and native Italians alike

The bank said that in order to also change the narrative in Italy, private entities needed to step up and take on a new role in the migration debate: not only as philanthropic bodies but as full partners in social impact projects.

Research found that key to achieving economic growth through migrants partaking in the work force lay in the "quality" of immigration flows and integration levels.

Barbaresco said that there is a need for skilled immigration at a level, which is complementary with the skills of native Italians.

So far in Italy, the majority of immigrants have a lower level of education especially in the tertiary sector, with only 13 percent achieving university-level qualifications -- the lowest rate in Europe.

However, it was also highlighted that this is rather in line with the fact that only 22 percent of Italians are university educated -- the second lowest rest in Europe.

Italian businesses tend to "employ migrants in order to cut costs instead of using them as a tool to improve productivity", Barbaresco noted, highlighting that only 14 percent of foreigners in Italy were employed as managers, professionals, or technicians.

This compares to 33 percent on average across the EU.

Examining new labor immigration models

Barbaresco stated also that in Italy, migrants are statistically most like of entering gainful employment but added that they often "end up being restricted to the most basic of jobs and functions, those that natives tend to avoid.

"Even when they have specialised training, they end up accepting unqualified tasks," he added.

He noted that Canada and Sweden were good models to follow when it comes to labor-based migration policies, highlighting that a transition to such points-based systems could make it possible in the long-run to attract required skilled workers to Italy.

"Integration policies seem to be the obligatory path for full valorisation of migration," he summarized.