Govt constantly looking at ways to retain local talent, says Fadillah

PETALING JAYA: The government is constantly working on measures to convince overseas Malaysians to return and work in the country, says Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.

"I'm not downplaying the brain drain issue, which seemed to be implied from the headline of the story," said the Deputy Prime Minister on Friday (Feb 10).

He was referring to a report by Bernama titled "Brain drain phenomenon can benefit Malaysia", that was carried by many news portals.

He said the full report should be read in order to understand the context of his remarks.

"I said that one of the factors causing brain drain in the research and development field is the advanced facilities and ecosystems in the other parts of the world such as the Silicon Valley in the United States.

"This doesn't mean that Malaysians who work overseas cannot contribute to the country through their work – that is the silver lining and my point," he said.

On Wednesday (Feb 8) night, Fadillah, who is also Agriculture and Commodities Minister, said the brain drain phenomenon in Malaysia must be looked at from a different angle and that the government could still benefit from their expertise.

On Wednesday, International Science Council foundation fellow Tan Sri Dr Zakri Abdul Hamid said the brain drain issue must be addressed by the government, otherwise Malaysians would be stuck in a "middle-income" trap.

Zakri said that Malaysia's gross national income per capita in 2021 was about US$11,200 (RM48,500).

"Then, we stopped (increasing). A high-income country should have a gross national income per capita of about US$15,000 (RM65,000).

"We cannot progress because there's a brain drain and this needs to be taken care of by our political leaders," Zakri told The Star on Wednesday (Feb 8).

Last December, think-tank Emir Research estimated that about two million Malaysians live and work abroad, and they comprised about 500,000 highly-skilled individuals above 25-years-old.