Eight MPs, among them Head of the Budget committee Ts.Davaasuren, have initiated a draft law on bringing qualified Mongolians working abroad back home. They feel that the anticipated expansion in various sectors of the economy and business, especially in mining and construction, will entail the wide use of new technology, and there are not enough Mongolians in the country who can be employed for this. Local labor in construction can do only the basic building and electricity work while all the sophisticated technology that is now considered essential has to be handled by foreign specialists. Paying for their work is a drain on the country’s resources, comprising mainly of revenue from mining. The draft law, said Mr. Davaasuren, seeks to rectify this anomaly, since a sizable number of Mongolians have acquired such skills abroad and use them there. Of course, they will return home only if they are guaranteed a certain level of wages commensurate with what they earn now, as also facilities, resources, and a work environment to help them optimally use their acquired skills. This is how South Korea and China have managed to develop new sectors and Mongolia must now follow suit.

The MPs were surprised to find that there is no proper dependable estimate of just how many such skilled Mongolians are working abroad, not even of those among hem who left the country on government scholarship or some other form of financial help from public funds. Only abut half the 1,100 people who were sent to universities in developed countries with government funds have returned to work in Mongolia. More than 200 of those who have not come back are believed to have acquired new citizenship. The draft seeks to halt this brain drain.