The Navitas Business Partners Conference 2025: Day 1
The biggest event on the Navitas Global Sales and Marketing (GSM) team’s calendar took place this month in the beautiful city of Hoi An, Vietnam.
From 12 to 14 September, over 150 education agents, university partners, alumni students, event sponsors and Navitas staff took part in the 2025 Navitas Business Partners Conference (BPC). They explored the ever-evolving global education landscape while maintaining focus on what truly matters: the students.
This year’s conference theme, Global Lens, Student Focus, reflected Navitas’ unwavering commitment to students – both within the organisation and across Navitas’ valued partnerships. Attendees came together to listen to thought-provoking keynote speakers, engaging panel discussions, NED Talks, debates, and interactive workshops, while having the opportunity to connect, collaborate, and network with colleagues from around the world.
Day 1, 12 September
The 2025 Navitas BPC was opened with a warm welcome from the day’s MC, Omid Honari, General Manager Marketing and Recruitment, MEA.
First up was a keynote presentation from Navitas Chief Insights Officer, Jon Chew (pictured below), on ‘Global Student Flows in the Managed Era’. Since BPC 2024, the big 4 English-speaking destinations have moved deeper into the managed era. This session examined key developments around the world in the last 12 months, and corresponding reactions from universities and the market. Notwithstanding recent challenges, new results from the Navitas Global Student Flows model demonstrated the strong fundamentals that underpin international education demand from now to 2035.
A short NED Talk from Prof Greg Smith, Vice-Provost (Academic Planning and Programs) at the University of Manitoba, looked at ‘Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity as Foundations for Student Success’. Dr Smith has worked closely with Navitas and the International College of Manitoba (ICM) for more than a decade, helping to ensure that international students seeking to pursue their academic dreams in Canada have an excellent experience. The talk discussed how Manitoba’s commitment to diversity and inclusivity has strengthened the experience for international student success.
Navitas Global Head of Strategy, Vikas Panjwani, then took to the stage to speak on ‘Global Policy Outlook’. From tightened visa rules to new work rights, from shifting migration targets to evolving compliance demands, the past few years have been anything but quiet for international education. Vikas was joined onstage by guest panellists who cut through the jargon to unpack the biggest recent policy changes in major student destinations, and asked: what’s next? Will governments lean open or closed? How will geopolitics, labour shortages, and economic pressures shape the rules? The panel provided some sharp insights, candid debates, and a clear-eyed look at the road ahead.
Navitas CEO University Partnerships Europe, Paul Lovegrove, gave an address and led a panel discussion that looked at ‘Is TNE an opportunity or threat for international recruitment’. With the significant rise in international students looking for different destinations for study and the relaxation of regulations for countries seeking inward investment, Paul and panellists looked at what this means for the setting of strategy for recruiters, universities and providers in a new era of TNE.
Jon Chew returned to the stage later in the day and was joined by members of the GSM Regional Management team. The session titled, ‘What’s next in Key Markets’, drew on the depth of expertise across the Navitas global team and examined (in a rapid-fire format) the recent developments and important trends across each of the key source markets for international students. The session provided valuable insights and on-the-ground perspectives from different regions on how student preferences and parental expectations are shifting in response to economic conditions and policy changes.
Turki Alsumih, Founding Director of education agency Masiratna, gave the second NED Talk of the day. Titled, ‘From Volunteer to Vision: Building a Business in Education’, Turki shared his personal journey of how a simple act of volunteering grew into his own business.
Navitas’ new Vice President, Students and Academic Success in University Partnership North America, Sharla Reid, was joined by a panel of guests to discuss the topic of ‘Student Support: Are we delivering on expectations?’. The session explored the evolving expectations around student support in today’s global education landscape.
The session provided insights from a university partner, an agent, a Navitas staff member, and one of Navitas’ guest students from Eynesbury College to examine what students and families now expect as a baseline for service and care, what they believe institutions are obligated to provide, and whether those expectations are being met in practice. It challenged everyone to reflect on how they define meaningful support and how everyone can better align the efforts with the lived experiences of students.
The day ended with closing remarks by Navitas Group CEO Scott Jones, who expressed his continued confidence and optimism about the future of international education and Navitas’ partnerships.