Brain Drain Costs Asia Billions - Report
By Paul Tait
A brain drain of highly-skilled professionals to well paid jobs in the First World costs Asia billions of dollars each year but the traffic is not all one way, a U.N. report found.
The United Nations (news - web sites) Development Program’s (UNDP) Human Development Report 2001 estimates India loses $2 billion a year in resources because of the emigration of computer professionals to the United States alone.
The report made no mention of Indian remittances home.
It said about 100,000 Indians were expected to emigrate each year after new visas were approved in the United States last October, and the average total cost to India of educating each one of them was between $15,000 and $20,000.
But the report, to be released in Mexico City, Sydney and several other cities on Tuesday, also noted that ``diasporas,‘’ such as Indian computer professionals in Silicon Valley in the United States, can enhance the country of origin’s reputation.
``The success of the Indian diaspora in Silicon Valley… appears to be influencing how the world views India, by creating a sort of ‘branding’,‘’ the report said.
``Indian nationality for a software programmer sends a signal of quality just as a ‘made in Japan’ label signals first-class consumer electronics,‘’ it said.
The new transnational demand for information technology specialists from India has led to a rapid expansion of suitable training at home, increasingly by the private sector.
``In a global market, people with the right skills will naturally migrate to the high-tech, high-wage frontier, wherever it is,‘’ said UNDP adviser Nancy Birdsall.
``But we do see signs that when countries create the right conditions – including openness to new investment and new ideas – they can recapture some of what they have lost. The Indians in Silicon Valley are an important part of Bangalore’s success.‘’
REGIONAL TECHNO HUBS
The 264-page UNDP study identified Bangalore as one of a number of world-class technological hubs which have emerged to challenge Silicon Valley and other centers in Europe and Japan.
Other hubs in developing countries include Kuala Lumpur, Campinas in Brazil, Gauteng in South Africa and El Ghazala in Tunisia.
The challenge for developing countries was to come up with strategies to keep some of their professionals at home and to encourage others to return, the report said.
It said they might consider imposing a flat ``exit’’ tax to be paid by the employee or company when a visa is granted, such as $10,000. This, it said, would help India recoup about $1 billion a year.
Another alternative could be a loan system where each student in tertiary education is given a loan or study subsidy by the state which must be repaid if the student leaves the country.
The report said South Korea (news - web sites) and Taiwan had both focused on encouraging their professional diasporas to return home.
In Taiwan, a government-run National Youth Commission was established to act as an ``information clearing-house’’ for scholars wanting to return home and potential employers.
South Korea had concentrated on upgrading its research institutions as a way to attract Korean professionals back.