Reversing the brain drain

Tania Adrius is back in Pakistan. This news has caught the media by storm in Pakistan. Why? Because very few top-notch Pakistanis working in top global companies leave it all for their country. Not entirely true. Many lesser known patriotic overseas Pakistanis have attempted it before. However, their experiences in working in the country have made them either give in to the system or quit and return to the saner environments. Thus Tania Adrius is a test case for many reasons. Firstly, why did she decide that now is the time to come back? What are her expectations from the job? How ready is she to withstand the "How to not get work done" mantra of the bureaucracy and the "How to discourage and dismiss outsiders" attitude of the politicians? Only time will tell but if she represents a change agent then those who have entrusted her with this job need to be the real change facilitators and enablers.

Pakistan has a very healthy overseas intellectual capital. Its professional class, be it doctors or engineers or scientists, are described as world class. They are also very connected to Pakistan emotionally. Very few, however, have been able to translate the intellectual capital and emotional connection into tangible contribution to the development of the country. The reason mainly is their own unmatched expectations or their ability to persist in an environment that is continuously trying to exclude them to quit. Though we do claim that we want to attract the diaspora as India and China did, we are far from providing the attractions they did.

China's rise in the world is directly attributable to Chinese people's harnessing of overseas brain power especially students studying in prestigious universities. China established the Thousand Talents program which targeted Chinese citizens who have studied at US elite universities and elsewhere and come back to attractive Chinese offers. They get lucrative signing bonuses, guaranteed research funding, ample technical staff and the opportunity to train younger students in their fields of expertise. Subsidies are given for housing, meals and relocation, and they are guaranteed jobs for spouses and regular trips to their home provinces. There is money behind this mind. China's expenditure on R&D has jumped from $9 billion in 1991 to $409bn, closer to the US expenditure of $485bn.

Pakistan has not invested in higher education and nor do Pakistani parents and students religiously invest in higher studies of their children in top universities abroad the way the Indians and Chinese do. In a study conducted by faculty of IBA, in 1989/90, as many as 7,010 Pakistani students were enrolled in US while Indian students were 26,240, i.e., a ratio of 1:4. By 2014-15 the disparity became much wider with 132,888 Indian students vs only 5,354 Pakistanis, a ratio of 1:25. Most of the Indians were enrolled for advanced degrees in STEM subjects in leading universities. Faculty members and research scientists of Indian origin are outnumbering other nationalities in huge numbers while Pakistan has a few faculty members of that level. According to this research, there were 250 faculty members of Indian origin teaching in the top 10 business schools in the US while Pakistan had only four.

The potential of tapping the overseas Pakistani is even higher than previously envisaged. Recently, some studies on the Pakistani diaspora in US have been conducted and the findings are very thought provoking. A previous study titled 2015 Migration Policy Institute study of Pakistani-Americans revealed that nearly a fifth of households report annual income over $140,000. The median household income of Pakistani-American families is $60,000 which is $10,000 higher than the figure for American families overall. This shows the investment potential. Michael Kugelman in his article for the book "Pakistani Diaspora, Corridors of Opportunity and Uncertainty", highlights the higher status of a Pakistani diaspora. According to him professions of Pakistani Americans include the affluent careers of medicine, accounting and financial analysis. Overall, 32% of the Pakistani diaspora in the US holds professional or managerial jobs in fields like engineering, law, science, education, finance and human resources.

The process of inducting high caliber diaspora is not a one-time event but a journey that requires some concrete steps to be taken to make it happen:

1. Create Connectivity - The first step to harness the potential is to create a sense of connectivity and contribution with the country development. Pakistanis abroad have an exceptional interest in the country and have wanted to be part of its transformation. The environment that is required to create that trust will take time. The best way to start is to create flexibility for them to stay in their jobs and career and become part of some think tank or advisory committee where they can start contributing ideas and intellect. Word of caution - make these committees matter as when their ideas will not find a course in the policy making the diaspora will quickly disassociate.

2. Develop some Inspiring role models - The next step is to create some examples of well placed Overseas Pakistanis who come back to work for the country. While Tania has definitely made headlines some other overseas people are also definitely inspiring examples. Moeed Yusuf has been appointed as Chairman SPCC - Strategic Policy Planning Cell. He is a well-known author and expert in international affairs. He will be heading the very important Strategic Policy Planning Cell (SPPC) under the National Security Division (NSD). Holder of Masters in International Relations and PhD in Political Science from Boston University, Dr Moeed Yusuf has served as the Associate Vice-President at the United States Institute of Peace (USIP). Such appointments really make other people want to do the same.

3. Create the Reasons to Be - The third step is to protect these intellectual assets from political wargames. Create systems to give them enough, if not, befitting benefits; give them the empowerment to exercise their decision-making without being frustrated by bureaucracy; and more so give them an inclusive, collaborative culture at the policy level that compensates for financial benefit deficits. This is the most difficult part and this is the most important change to create sustainable intellectual retention.

Politics in Pakistan is still driven by personality cultures rather than performance cultures. That is why when some good men take over some good does take place. However, to make a consistent environment where people coming and going can only create marginal difference in results, a special policy for attracting, inducting, harnessing and retaining overseas talent needs to be formulated and implemented to tap the amazing talents, skills and intellect of the overseas Pakistanis.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])