New York: The surging migration of Indian and Taiwanese hi-tech personnel to other countries and in turn benefitting their homelands is not replicated in the healthcare sector, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, a new study released by the United Nations said.

The study by the United Nations University (UNU) shows that migrants could serve as an engine of growth in their homelands in high-tech and several other fields.

But so far as health sector is concerned, the old worry about brain drain is not generally fully warranted, the report said.

Among positive examples cited by the study titled Mobilizing Talent for Global Developments , figure several successful Indians and Taiwanese in the high-tech industry in the United States who also set up hardware and software companies in their home countries, contributing to growth.

"So you see a pattern of circulation, part of the investments is done in the first world, part of the investments is done in the third world," said study director Andrs Solimano.

But in the health sector the study, produced by the university's World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER), cautions that emigration hurts source countries.

As doctors, nurses and medical specialists continue to leave African, Asian and Caribbean countries, the health services become depressed and inadequate, especially in Africa, which is already suffering the heavy toll of AIDS.

The study also recommends that countries that are losing talent should set up more liberal and open regimes to create a positive climate for business and the well-educated, leading to an improvement in the economy and society at large.

Source : PTI