A significant portion of Bangladesh's young talents decide to move abroad to study and eventually settle. While China and India could make good use of their diaspora community, Bangladesh's case is different. How to turn brain drain into knowledge exchange?
The term “brain drain” describes the mass emigration or migration of educated or competent people, typically in quest of better opportunities, from one nation, industry, or area to another. The World Bank placed Bangladesh in the 31st position among 173 countries in 2021, as the country received 7 out of 10 in the “Human Flight and Brain Drain” indicator.
7 out of 10
Bangladesh's score in Human Flight and Brain Drain Indicator
Around 40%
Aged Between 15-35 Years
While major Western and Asian economies are struggling with an aging population, Bangladesh enjoys a huge demographic dividend with a massive working population aged between 15-35 years – around 40% of the entire population. However, alongside semi-skilled individuals, the sharpest minds of the country are also settling in foreign countries, which hinders the progress of Bangladesh.
Sustainability of Remittance
Employment of Bangladeshi Nationals Abroad
Source: BMET
No Data Found
According to some, the remittances sent by expatriate Bangladeshis are contributing to the economy. Bangladesh has received a total of $21,610.66 million in remittances in FY23, which is 2.75 percent higher than the previous fiscal year. Despite the development of remittances, the trade off of obtaining remittances are quite high now. The monetary benefits of remittances are ephemeral because, after taking their close relatives abroad, the expatriates are less likely to send the remittances. Illegal channels like Hundi also exacerbate the problem of the country receiving any benefit from remittance. Due to infrastructural inability, it often gets tough to withhold the actual amount of remittance flow. Thus, the country will eventually be left without both riches and brains if measures are not taken.
Causes of Brain Drain
The major causes behind meritorious students leaving Bangladesh can be divided into push and pull factors. Certain bitter challenges coerce the skilled population to leave Bangladesh. Various formal and informal institutions contribute to this exodus, directly or indirectly.
Bangladeshi Students in the US
Source: Open Doors
No Data Found
Firstly, the inadequate opportunity for quality higher study and research. Student migration to the US has increased by 28% in 2023 from the previous year as the scholars receive little incentive to invent and create knowledge in Bangladesh. The Bangladeshi tertiary education institutions fail to match international standards. Session jams in public universities strand students in abyss. Most public and private universities fail to accumulate funds for first-rate research. Faculties and students have to wait for years to develop research funds to finance their passions. Labs at universities are not well-equipped. In 2019, 25 public and private universities in Bangladesh cumulatively spent only BDT 1.53 billion on research – only one percent of their total expenditure.
An acute skill gap is prevailing in the labor market. Most university curricula are not updated to satiate the evolving job landscape fueled by Industry 4.0. Lack of industry-academia collaboration is isolating students from the job market. Many jobs in fields of STEM that are well fitted for meritorious students are absent in Bangladesh. Sometimes highly talented individuals do not receive lucrative salaries in the country.
Secondly, a lack of high living standard is also a major challenge experienced by talented youth. Price hikes, inflation, load shedding, traffic congestion, pollution and other aspects hinder the standard of living in Bangladesh, which prevents students from living in the country even though the energy crisis, inflation, etc. have been largely caused (not entirely) by the Russia- Ukraine war and the Covid-19 pandemic. There are many external and internal factors contributing to the standard of living in Bangladesh. However, the Bangladesh government is trying to focus on internal aspects through infrastructural development for a broad spectra of the population by coming up with Padma Bridge, Dhaka Elevated Expressway, Ashrayan Housing Project, Renewable Energy, etc.
Thirdly, corrupt practices such as favoritism, nepotism and bribery in landing a job or getting a promotion are widespread in Bangladesh, which force brilliant youngsters to settle abroad seeking a fair and enabling environment to further their careers. For example, The 24th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination’s question was leaked and the 27th BCS examination was later announced null and void due to corruption. Due to the then ruling party’s way of focusing on taking cadres, following nepotism in a manner that scares the youths even today – is still impacting their trust issues regarding the authenticity of government jobs. Moreover, government jobs with higher level of security is very competitive. On the other hand, private sector jobs are to a large extent occupied by favoritism and merred with underpayment.
Studying even at top universities like DU and BUET does not guarantee employment. Hundreds of STEM graduates are unable to land jobs domestically and choose to seek opportunities abroad each year because the industries of Bangladesh are unable to use their potential. Only 39% of university graduates in Bangladesh are employed in either part or full-time jobs. Thus, a foreign degree can ease the process of landing a financially stable job abroad.
In Bangladesh, a fresh graduate doctor only earned around BDT 5000 to 8000 each month in 2005, which is now around BDT 25000, whereas an uneducated businessman can earn at least five times higher than that. In contrast, developed countries like America, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, and the U.K. provide better economic prospects as they offer well-paid jobs with higher living standards. On another note, the presence of deeply rooted scientific culture lures meritorious students to emigrate to foreign countries. Shockingly, so many individuals view working in foreign countries as a matter of pride, dignity, and higher social status.
Brain Drain vs. Brain Circulation
A continuous debate that worries academia, industry, and government is whether the migration of talented individuals from their home countries to foreign lands is beneficial for the country. John Hicks (1932) noted that “differences in net economic advantages, chiefly differences in wages, are the main causes of migration”. Literature dating back to 1950s and 1980s also supported Hicks’s work and showed that receiving countries get benefits; however, sending countries lose human capital, and thus have potential negative effects of the skilled emigration (Bhagwati and Hamada, 1974).
However, there is a flip side to brain drain, as brain drain can potentially benefit the source countries. Outflows of high-skilled labor can form a diaspora abroad, which promotes trade between the sending countries and countries that have the diaspora (Rauch and Trindale, 2002). The high-skilled, talented diaspora of a country can contribute to their home land in various ways. After gaining first hand experience abroad, they can return to their home country and contribute. Individuals who do not want to return can still facilitate the transfer of capital, knowledge and technology, as well as help build the brand value of their motherland on a global stage.
The French Institut de Recherche pour le Développement (STD) brought attention to the development contributions of engineers and scientists from the global South who were working in the global North and forming professional and scientific networks, described as Diaspora Knowledge Networks (DKNs), which were argued to be a new phenomenon that had the capacity to reverse the negative aspects of the brain drain (Meyer and Wattiaux, 2006).
Diaspora Option
Diaspora groups, international development organizations and governments in the global south have all jubilantly embraced efforts to foster greater diaspora engagement because of the benefits that a Diaspora option potentially offers to the problem of low Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), insufficient human capital and weak governance institutions. Policymakers view the Diaspora option as especially revolutionary in regions of the world where migration has been traditionally seen as a liability and obstacle to development. Rather than a source of brain drain, migrants are increasingly viewed as a resource and a potential source of brain exchange between sending and receiving countries (Brown, 2000; Gaillard and Gaillard, 1997; Kaplan, 1997; Stark et al., 1997).
Jean-Baptiste Meyer and colleagues used the term ‘Diaspora Option’ to explain the rise of policies to remotely mobilize talents abroad to contribute to scientific and cultural programmes at home. The idea that diaspora can turn around the economic fortunes of ailing and crisis-ridden economies is an appealing one, especially in contexts where previous approaches based on flows of public aid and inward investments have shown their limits (Kapur, 2004).
Studies, such as Saxenian’s examination of the contributions of skilled immigrants from India, China and Taiwan in Silicon Valley to economic growth in their homelands (Saxenian, 2006; Saxenian and Sabel, 2008), have played a pivotal role in proving the effectiveness of mobilizing a country’s diaspora. Saxenian found that in the late 1990s, around one third of all new businesses in Silicon Valley were run by immigrants largely from India and China, and by 2004, ‘venture-capital and private-equity firms’ were investing more than $US 1 billion annually in China, with a similar amount in India (Saxenian, 2006: 102).
China’s Strategies to Reverse Brain Drain
Mobilizing “Official Resources” Overseas
To directly target the overseas Chinese scholars, China mobilized its officials working in embassies and consulates from 38 countries which have the highest concentration of Chinese expatriate students. China established 52 educational bureaus in these embassies and consulates, which facilitated the establishment of over 2,000 Overseas Students Associations and over 300 professional associations for overseas Chinese scholars and students.
China established Service Centres for Overseas Study under the Ministry of Education in most of its major cities to send out “recruitment delegations” abroad. These recruitment delegations will, then, offer extremely high salaries to work in Chinese companies to overseas scholars. China utilized its Chinese community newspapers in foreign countries to advertise such delegations and their offers in order to attract talents.
Financial Policies and Incentives
China offered a range of financial incentives to the expatriates if they return and serve their country. For instance, in 1987, under the “Financial Support for Outstanding Young Professors Programme”, China awarded 2,218 returning professors a total of 144 million yuan by the end of 2003. The other programmes undertaken by the Chinese government were “Seed Fund for Returned Overseas Scholars” (1990), the “Cross-Century Outstanding Personnel Training Programme” (1991), the “National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars” (1994), and “The One Hundred, One Thousand, and Ten Thousand Programme” (1995).
In March 1992,the China launched a new policy under which they established job introduction centers for returned students in Shenzhen, Shanghai and Fujian, provided preferential treatment to the returnees by giving them more living space and higher professional titles, helping their family members to move in new cities where the returnee has found a job and so on.
Short-Term Visits to “Serve the Country”
The Chinese government realized if they could give a taste of how China has progressed to its overseas scholars, it may be able to attract more talents. Thus, short-term visits of these expatriates in China can be instrumental in motivating them to settle in China. In 1997, the Chinese government established the “Spring Light Programme” to offer funds for short-term visits (Zi, 2003). In the first year of this programme, 600 scholars visited China. In November 2000, a new initiative incentivized expatriates to visit China during their summer vacation and paid them as much as five times their overseas salaries. The Ministry of Education ensured the return of over 7,000 expatriates between 1996 and May 2003.
China facilitated cooperative projects between Chinese expatriate scholars and local Chinese individuals. The ‘111 Project’ in China enables top scholars from the Chinese diaspora to team up with local Chinese researchers in different capacities.
China ensured flexibility for its overseas talented minds. China adopted a far more flexible policy when it started advocating for serving the nation even from abroad as the country realized so many expatriates may not eventually return to China. This ensured a continuous exchange of technology and knowledge from foreign countries to China.
Huge Investment in Education and Research
China heavily invested in its tertiary education and research to attract its overseas talents. Under the “985 Plan”, China poured billions of yuan into 9 universities in Beijing and Qinghua to build world-class universities.
Taiwan Fighting Brain Drain
To fight brain drain, Taiwan has improved the tertiary education institutes and motivated overseas Taiwanese talents to contribute to Taiwan’s national progress. Following are some of the notable initiatives undertaken by Taiwan:
- Since the 1970s, Taiwan has provided travel subsidies in the form of air travel allowances to the returning scholars and their families.
- All education and career background information of returning Taiwanese students have been put into a digital computer system as well as information on 3,000 leading private enterprises, government agencies, state-own corporations, universities and research institutions. This huge database allows Taiwan to connect the returnees to potential employers.
- Short-term (one-year) research appointments were given to the overseas scholars before they can find a permanent job. Since 1979, 50 temporary appoints are being made every year and the number increased to 75 and 100 in 1986 and 1989, respectively.
- A business-friendly environment with less bureaucratic red tape and state-support has been ensured in Taiwan for expatriates who seek to establish their ventures in Taiwan. Taiwan provides assistance in obtaining loans, finding production locations and facilities.
- Since a lot of Taiwanese expatriates will not eventually return to Taiwan, Taiwan has adopted special measures, including a high salary to attract them to teach or work in Taiwan for a brief period. As a result, more than 3,700 overseas scientists and experts and 2,500 established scholars have returned to Taiwan as “visiting professors”.
- Since the 1970s, Taiwan has provided travel subsidies in the form of air travel allowances to the returning scholars and their families.
Indian Way to Navigate Brain Drain
The Indian government mapped out some prudent policies to reverse that brain drain by providing economic opportunities and a friendly atmosphere where the Indian Diaspora can utilize its skills and abilities (Chacko, 2007). They skilled the Indian workforce by not only investing in their abilities and competencies in the IT sector but also their remarkable contributions in the accounting, finance and management sectors (Behrman & Rodinelli, 2002). The two cities of Hyderabad and Bangalore were made the hubs of IT industries, and IT parks and digital technology infrastructure were developed. In this way, the brains that were drained out were circulated in the country’s economy (Chacko, 2007).
At present, ‘Circular Migration’ is observed in India as people first go abroad, come back after a certain period to contribute in India, and then go back to the foreign lands. Many minds involved in making the “Silicon Valley of India” in Bengaluru today were once employed in multinational corporations abroad. Promoting favorable policies for the IT sector facilitated such brain gain in India.
Measures taken by Government to Address Brain Gain
Training Programs: In order to get rid of unskilled labor migration, the Bangladesh government has taken several training programmes through BMET to make sure brain gain occurs from migration. Bangladesh’s technical and vocational education and training (TVET) has played a crucial role in terms of training. The ILO’s Skills 21 Project is also collaborating in the TVET program.
Establishing New Universities: To encourage STEM programs and higher skilled manpower Sheikh Hasina established 12 new Science and Technology Universities. Among which the government has recently approved two new science and technology universities, the Lakshmipur Science and Technology University and the Bogura Science and Technology University.
Fiscal Incentives: To attract the skilled professionals, outright monetary grants, discounted airfares, subsidized housing, and complementary education are given. For example, doctors who work in Chittagong Hill Tracts get salary top-ups, health insurance and housing allowances now. Whereas the line workers such as the RMG sector workers get attendance bonuses, productivity bonuses, and performance bonuses.
Promotion of Entrepreneurship: In order to enhance entrepreneurship creating a channel for employment domestically the government has taken measures like tele-entrepreneurship, startup programs etc. The government introduced the Startup Bangladesh initiative in 2016 with the goal of fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in the nation. The initiative offers cash, mentoring, and other forms of assistance to start-ups and business owners. However, tele-entrepreneurship targets village women to active inclusive innovation.
Prioritising Workers Safety: Around 3.5-4 million workers work in the RMG sector but their safety was not ensured even a few years ago. The current government launched the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS) pilot project in 2023 to compensate the injured workers and their accidents in order to prioritize the workers safety and progress to stop brain drain.
Policies taken by GOB: Policies such as- National Skills Development Policy (NSDP) 2011, National Youth Policy 2017, National Employment Policy 2022 etc are produced to increase youth skills and stop the ongoing brain drain trend.
Programs taken by GOB: GoB has developed the Skills for Employment Investment Program (SEIP) with the support of Asian Development Bank which is going to help industry skill council (ISC) to make the industries innovative globally in demand. On another note, the Economic Acceleration and Resilience for NEET (Earn) project will establish 16,000-18,000 training centers at village level which plan to accommodate 70% of females.
Further Areas of Intervention
- Bangladesh’s academic curricula across all educational levels should be designed and reformed to align with industry demand and the evolving job market. In the status quo, a student can get a PhD only from public universities in Bangladesh. UGC should allow private universities such as NSU, BRAC, IUB, and ULAB to have their own PhD programs.
- A lack of patriotism is observed among public university teachers who study abroad with government funding and receive salaries but refuse to return to Bangladesh. The government should undertake a mega plan to establish laboratories with cutting-edge technologies to thrust research and produce highly skilled graduates. The government should also put conditions on serving in the country for certain years after the completion of study abroad and undertake initiatives to get the money back if they do not come back to the country.
- The Prime Minister Scholarship offered by the government is often limited to a higher number of bureaucrats, meaning the scholarship is not always accessible by the private students. The Ministry of Science and Technology offers Bangabandhu Fellowship for higher studies in the domain of science and technology which includes a condition that the recipients have to return to the country after finishing their studies. The government should enlarge the area of such scholarships to receive the service from the recipients in return.
- All the political parties in Bangladesh should actively hunt talented young minds based on meritocracy, and create a safe and enabling environment for them to engage in policy making. Introducing ‘Youth Quota’ in the national parliament will ensure a rise in young decision makers in the parliament with meaningful engagement in politics.
- A global network of Bangladeshi expatriates can be established to bring in experts in different areas such as education, technology, health, finance, and agriculture with the support of Bangladeshi missions around the world to coordinate such efforts in preparing databases of talented Bangladeshi expatriates. By nurturing an enabling environment for research and development, entrepreneurs and small business owners can play a pivotal role in brain gain. Additionally, a massive crackdown on illegal channels like hundi can be instrumental in gaining from remittance.
- Financial incentives such as tax waivers are provided in China for expatriates. Hence, the Bangladesh government can provide a range of financial and monetary incentives such as tax waivers, investment opportunities, attractive compensation packages to attract the talented Bangladeshi expatriates.
In conclusion, efforts from both the public and private sector will be essential in liberating Bangladesh from the curses of brain drain and transform the country into a developed nation by utilizing the talented minds of the country.
About the Author
A R Tahseen Jahan is the Co-Founder and Head of Policy at The Confluence. An undergrad student of Development Studies at the University of Dhaka, she worked on topics of economic development and public policy.
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