• SL diaspora is privy to most updated technologies in advanced economies

• Govt can take a cue from India and introduce a special visa category for them

• Diaspora entrepreneurs’ linkage with global networks should be harnessed

by Sanath Nanayakkare

Policymakers can encourage the Sri Lankan talent pool which is spread across the developed countries to shift their base back home if they pull the right policy levers, said the head of department of a leading university in Sri Lanka.

Dr. Janaka Fernando, Head of Department of Business Economics, Faculty of Management Studies and Commerce at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura said so in the backdrop of widely spreading fear that skilled migration will have overwhelmingly negative effects on Sri Lanka.

Exclusively speaking to The Island, he said,” The Sri Lankan talent pool which has found stable doing business and improved living conditions in developed countries can be lured to shift or relocate their operations in Sri Lanka if the policymakers correctly identify their capacities, interests and their patriotism.”

“A fair share of this Sri Lankan talent pool in those countries would come back home to start new businesses in their motherland if the authorities make the domestic environment conducive to professionalism, startups, incubator nest hubs, industrial parks etc.,” he said.

The following are some excerpts from the interview with Dr. Fernando.

“Brain drain isn’t a new phenomenon in Sri Lanka. It has been in existence for more than six decades and it occurred in different ways at different stages of our history. The diaspora includes all communities of the country, not only Tamils as erroneously interpreted very often. With the gaining of Independence from the colonial masters in 1948 and with the advent of the Sinhala Only Act in 1956, economically and administratively active European descendants who had made Sri Lanka their second home left the country for good.

Subsequently, in the first few years of 1970s when the features of a closed-economy were dominant in the country, many professionals including doctors, engineers and lawyers left Sri Lanka to live and work the in the West. I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the legacy of what came to be known as Black July in 1983 where Tamil separatists had stepped up militant attacks in the North killing 13 soldiers, and over the next few days, some members of the Sinhalese majority took revenge causing havoc around the country. This unfortunate turn of events led to a mass exodus of educated members of the Tamil community to other countries.

And in the 1990s-2000s when bomb blasts were taking place and the country engaged in a war to crush terrorism, another wave of Tamil professionals departed from Sri Lanka. Around this time, universities had been closed for three consecutive years from 1986 to 1989 due to political unrest and many students from affluent families left the country to pursue their higher education in foreign countries. So, this is a brief overview of how migration happened in the past. And today, we are witnessing the largest-ever exodus of qualified professionals as a result of the deeper implications and consequences of the current economic crisis.”

“You see, this time the brain drain is starkly different from the past scenarios and you cannot really blame the people going out because who does not want to improve standard of life? However, I think this situation has a silver lining too. If the policymakers take advantage of the often-overlooked aspects, the brain drain could be turned into a win-win situation for the country as well as the skilled migrants in the medium to long term.”

“Not only in Sri Lanka, the migration of skilled workers is a persistent trend in many developing countries, and therefore, as a country we need to look at how we can strategically attract skilled migrants to come back after some time and make Sri Lanka more attractive to international capital investment as well as an oasis for knowledge industries which are based on intensive use of technology and human capital.”

“We need to understand that migration takes place because of push factors in Sri Lanka and pull factors in the receiving countries. So, the authorities must avoid measures to limit or tax skilled migrants’ decisions to leave the country because it goes against the democratic norms of the country and the fundamental freedom of choice. Instead, the authorities should facilitate them to migrate because these skilled professionals are privy to most updated technologies and best work practices in those countries.”

“Let’s not forget that many of our professionals abroad have built purposeful connections and networks in these advanced economies, therefore, Sri Lanka can leverage this ‘brain circulation’ for its rapid development and economic growth. If we harness it properly, it can trigger a flow back of knowledge, new technologies and foreign direct investments (FDI) to the country.

If we can entice at least a small percentage of the Sri Lankan diaspora to come back and operate from Sri Lanka, they will have the capacity to form the back bone of a new economic order especially by innovating lucrative products for the global ICT marketplace. So the government must work towards the goal of providing them with amenities similar to what they would get in the foreign lands they go to. If we can do this, we will be able to attract back at least a few of them who have the true transformative capacity to help Sri Lanka in its growth journey.”

“Already without any government intervention, a few individuals of Sri Lanka’s patriotic diaspora have shifted their base back home because they identified the favourable opportunities in Sri Lanka. Virtusa Corporation founded by Kris Canekeratne, WSO2 founded by Dr.Sanjiva Weerawarana, CodeGen founded by Dr. Harsha Subasinghe, Orion City founded by Jeevan Gnanam, for example, have earned a lot of name and fame for what they are specialized in and have become foreign currency revenue earners to reckon with, in their respective fields.

They interconnected their operations to Sri Lanka driven by their own passion and passed the benefit to the county regardless of little support from the policymaking side. But such passionate volunteering by the Sri Lankan diaspora needs to be spurred by the government without much delay. The government can take a cue from India in this regard and introduce a special visa category for the diaspora members, and create tech hubs and science parks to facilitate them to bring their operations to Sri Lanka. When such visionary entrepreneurs come, other professionals also will see that the country is doing all the right things to achieve its full growth potential, and they will also jump on the growth bandwagon,” Dr. Janaka Fernando said.