‘Brawn drain’ earns money for S.E. Asia

Press, 12 January 1981, Page 7

‘Brawn drain’ earns money for S.E. Asia

NZPA Bangkok Some of the Asian countries which have deplored the “brain drain” from their shores in past years are happy about a “brawn drain” of skilled and semiskilled workers. These workers, many of them heading for the Middle East,' remit large sums to their homelands and ease unemployment. - Also, unlike doctors, engineers, and intellectuals who have tended to leave permanently, these people return with sharpened skills . after foreign stints. Labour Department officials in Thailand say that between 70,000 and 80,000 Thais are working in the Middle East, and generate more than $2lO million each year for their country. They work as construction labourers, drivers, carpenters, hotel personnel, and in a variety of other jobs. A Philippines Labour Ministry spokesman, Mr Fred Rosario, said abcut 1.3 millio Filipinos are working overseas. They remitted about $1 billion in 1979. This is expected to reach about $1.5 billion for 1980. Indonesian officials said 7500 skilled workers and professionals left the country to work abroad in 1980, an increase of 30 per cent over the previous year. The Indonesian Government even provides training for those who intend to work abroad. The International .Labour Organisation office in Bangkok said the migration of Asian workers to Arab countries began in T 973. -Statistics indicate that of the more than 1.8 million migrant workers in the Middle East, 20 per cent came from Asia. Although statistics' are difficult to find, 1.L.0 docu-

ments and reports from South-East Asian capitals show that the “brain drain” is becoming less serious as countries in the region develop

The five countries of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (A.S.E.A.N.) have notched some of the highest growth rates in the world over the last few years. The five are Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The Asian Institute of Technology in Bangkok, which was founded in 1959 with the aim of halting the exodus of Asian engineers, says that only 4.5 per cent of its graduates are now working outside the region. .In fact, Singapore is attracting doctors, engineers, architects, and technicians from neighbouring countries. The exodus of doctors, however, continues to trouble some South-East Asian governments, especially since many are still needed to work in backward, rural areas.

One Thai public health official recently accused the United States of “enticing” Thai doctors, who took great resources and time to train. , , The, fact remains, however, that the starting salary for a Thai doctor at a Government hostpial is about $173 a month, extremely low even by Thai standards and minuscule compared with Salaries available in most Western countries.. New doctors in their own countries or educated in universities abroad and used to the comforts of urban life are often reluctant to spend time “up-country” as required by some South-East Aslan government', and thus dpt for * foreign job.