Government and UNDP to engage the diaspora in the country’s development

TIRANA, Sept. 26 – Albanian authorities and the United Nations Development Program organized Tuesday a conference on the brain drain phenomenon in the country. They provided an overview of the current situation and the challenges of tackling the phenomenon. The government introduced the brain gain initiative supported by UNDP. During the last decade of the 20th century Albania had the highest rate of emigration in the world. In the period of 1993- 2004, around 45 percent of university professors and researched emigrated, as did more than 65 percent of PhD holders educated in the west.
The return of qualified migrants is a key issue in the Albanian government’s strategy for migration in order to enable the Albanian diaspora to contribute to country’s development. The project aims at creating the necessary incentives and mechanisms for halting and reversing Albania’s “brain drain.”
The project includes support to government to prepare a policy framework for the engagement of diaspora in the development of the country. It will include the establishment of a data base with eligible individuals to be part of the brain gain program and support the academia, the private sector and other interested groups to make use of their expertise.
“Through the Brain Gain Program we would like to say to the Albanian diaspora: Return, because Albania develops when you become an integral part of the process,” said Prime Minister Sali Berisha.