Lucrative salaries offered in other countries, such as the Middle East, do not stop skilled and talented Malaysians from returning home to contribute to strategic fields in the country, said Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp) chief executive officer, Johan Mahmood Merican.
For instance, the UAE was the sixth country from which Malaysians were returning even though they were paid high salaries while serving there.
Johan (pic) said among the factors, which encouraged Malaysians to return home was the opportunity to hold a senior post or influence the development and success of a company in Malaysia.
“It is common that a senior post in a company here (UAE) is held by a local or probably someone from Europe.
“It is attractive to those with the experience and skills to return home to take over a more senior post in a company in Malaysia, and at the same time, contribute to the national transformation programme,” he told Malaysian reporters, who were covering Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s working visit to Dubai.
Last Friday, TalentCorp organised a dinner function together with the Malaysian diasporas in the UAE, which was attended by Muhyiddin as well as more than 280 Malaysian professionals from throughout the UAE.
Johan said TalentCorp visit to the UAE was due to the concentration of Malaysian talents here, who had the skills in high demand Malaysia and were needed for the national transformation programme.
He said last year more than 50 talented and expert Malaysians, who were serving in the oil and gas, health and construction industries in the UAE returned home.
Johan said since 2011, more than 2,500 applications were approved under the Returning Expert Programme managed by TalentCorp.
“It is not just due to the efforts of TalentCorp that the experts are interested to return to Malaysia but the momentum of the economic transformation is also an influencing factor,” he said.
He said the talents and experts, who were not ready to return home could also contribute to the national transformation programme by encouraging investments in Malaysia, helping Malaysian companies penetrate the overseas market or providing advisory services.
“They do not have to go back, although it is best. They could also contribute from overseas,” he said.
He said in his meetings with Malaysian talents in the UAE, some had asked him how to contact Malaysian companies and others wanted to contribute from abroad.
“In general, they still have the Malaysian spirit, regardless of whether they wanted to return home or contribute from here (UAE),” he said.
source: malaysianinsider.com
