FICCI hosted an event in collaboration with the World Bank’s KNOMAD (Global Knowledge Partnership on Migration and Development) in Washington DC . As part of a full day workshop on “Emerging Diaspora Opportunities and Challenges: Host and Home Countries”, Dr. Alwyn Didar Singh, Secretary General, FICCI, participated in the sessions as both a speaker and a moderator, in his role as Chair of the World Bank’s Thematic Working Group on Mobilizing Diaspora Resources for Social and Economic Change.
The full day workshop also featured a presentation by Dr. Singh of his recent book, Politics of Migration: Indian Emigration in a Globalized World. In Session 3, which was organized by FICCI, Dr. Alwyn Didar Singh was joined on the panel by Jacob Kirkegaard of the Peterson Institute for International Economics; Devesh Kapur of the Center for Advanced Study of India at the University of Pennsylvania; Professor Eun-Suk Seo of the University of Maryland; Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy of TiE DC; and Dilip Ratha of the World Bank.
The panel discussed the topic, ‘Leveraging the Diaspora as a source of innovation, technology, and research’. Jacob Kirkegaard discussed the positive impacts of high-skilled Indian immigration to the US on both the home and host countries. Dr. Devesh Kapur discussed the need for Indian higher educational institutions to keep pace with its highly educated migrants who want to return home to work and research. Dr. Satyam Priyadarshy called for reform of US immigration and visa policy, the complexity of which stalls the productivity of highly-skilled and -educated migrants, and therefore, innovation as well.
The day ended with some thought provoking takeaways and future projects. FICCI and World Bank intend to continue the dialogue annually in order to explore the economic challenges and opportunities created by this new era of migration.
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