Diaspora talent attraction and skills transfer in Malaysia
Since 2010, Malaysia has been increasingly investing in diaspora engagement in terms of talent attraction and skills transfer to address both its “brain drain” concerns and skills gaps in critical sectors. In 2011, Malaysia established TalentCorp to lead the country’s work to attract, nurture and retain talent. TalentCorp has since developed a number of programmes to engage the diaspora, including through its MyHeart platform and Returning Expert Programme.
With support from EUDiF, TalentCorp seeks to enhance its diaspora engagement and talent attraction activities. The CDL project, will support TalentCorp to learn from international and regional practices in the triumvirate of diaspora engagement, talent attraction and skills transfer.
Through benchmarking TalentCorp’s work against international best practices, fostering dialogue with peer institutions from Asia, and reviewing monitoring frameworks, the project will aid TalentCorp to make evidence-based strategic and programmatic improvements, whilst also enhancing regional cooperation and strengthening capacities in diaspora consultation monitoring.
Programme of activities
An analysis of Malaysia's talent attraction and skills transfer, benchmarking it against international best practices. The resulting study will serve as a resource for programme implementation and strategic planning to enhance Malaysian diaspora engagement, including REP optimisation.
Peer learning will be facilitated through a regional peer exchange with institutions from Asia on diaspora talent attraction and skills transfer schemes, and online exchanges with peers from other regions.
An assessment of the monitoring, evaluation and learning capacities of TalentCorp's diaspora consultation and outreach activities will be carried out with a view to co-designing a MEL framework and tools adapted to TalentCorp's resources and institutional objectives.