Migration and development

Conference on October, 20th and 21st 2003

The migration of highly skilled workers has various aspects: Many developed countries try to overcome their need for highly skilled people by recruiting them from abroad. As a consequence, some countries and sectors, like the health sector in Southern Africa, suffer from significant negative effects. Other countries, however, have demonstrated that the migration of highly skilled workers can also have positive affects for the economic development of the sending country; the migration of Indian IT experts is often referred to as a positive example of migration.

The goal of the conference is to create a dialog between developed and developing countries. The main focus should be on the practical experiences from the sending countries. These experiences and the know-how of national and international organizations, politicians, scientists, and business people should help to develop policy options in such a way, that migration is sustainable for the sending as well as the receiving country.

About 50 people from national and international organizations, politics, business, and academia will discuss the process of migration in two working groups. The first working group will discuss the extent of migration within the health sector in Southern Africa, while the second group will have a closer look at the migration of IT experts from Bulgaria and India. The results of the working group will be presented to a broader audience of about 100 people on Tuesday afternoon and will be discussed during a panel discussion.

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