1 Summary of the Outcome and Agreements The 2nd ASEAN Talent Mobility Workshop “ASEAN Talent Mobility towards AEC 2025: Consolidation and Going Beyond” www.aseantalent.net 14 November 2014 Bangkok, Thailand Introduction 1. The 2nd ASEAN Talent Mobility Workshop was held on 14 November 2014 at Banyan Tree Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand. The event was organised by the National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office, Ministry of Science and Technology of Thailand. The workshop was supported by the ASEAN Science Fund (ASF) that was approved during the COST-‐68 meeting in Bogor, Indonesia in August 2014. The aim of the workshop is to gain a better understanding on the current state of ASEAN Talent Mobility (ATM) and to develop policy recommendations that will facilitate the mobility of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) talents in ASEAN. 2. The event was attended by representatives from Brunei Darussalam, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Viet Nam. Representatives from the European Union (EURAXESS) as well as China (Greatwall Enterprise Institute: GEI) were also invited to share their experiences in managing mobility of researchers and scientists in their respective region and country. Successes and cautionary issues were discussed among all the 45 participants during the workshop. 3. The objectives of this workshop are to: a. define the scope of the study on the State of ATM; b. plan and agree upon the timeframe of the study and the data-‐collection methodology; c. develop a questionnaire to identify incentives and barriers to mobilise ASEAN STI talents; and d. exchange experiences in managing talent mobility programmes by all the ASEAN Member Countries (AMC); 2 Highlights of the Workshop 4. Welcome Address and Introduction to the 2nd ASEAN Talent Mobility Workshop by Dr. Yada Mukdapitak, Deputy Secretary General of the National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office, Thailand. The Welcome Address and Introduction appears in ANNEX 1. 5. Dr. Anna Karaoglou, Directorate-‐General for Research and innovation, European Commission and other representatives from EURAXESS shared their experiences with the MORE (MObility of REsearchers) study on the EU talent mobility. The discussion with the EU appears in ANNEX 2. 6. Mr. Wang Delu, founder of the GEI, led a discussion detailing how China attracted Chinese talents from oversea to return home. China experience in promoting mobility of STI talents and potential joint collaborations with the ASEAN Member Countries (AMC) appears in ANNEX 3. 7. The invited focal points from the AMC actively participated in the discussions on the planning of the study and the survey on the state of ATM as well as the current situations of brain drain, brain gain, brain waste, and brain circulation in ASEAN. Several agreements on the definitions, scope, and timeline of the project and the targeted output and outcome were reached. Agreements and Outcome 8. The definition of “Talent” in this project is the personnel who work in the areas pertaining to STI such as R&D researchers, lecturers, engineers and technicians according to the UN International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED) 2011. The meeting agreed to follow the ISCED codes up to 2-‐digit code e.g. code 42 for life sciences and code 52 for engineering and engineering trades. 9. The meeting agreed to conduct a survey to identify incentives and barriers relating to mobility of talents at an institutional/organizational level at this initial stage of the project instead of at the level of individual researchers as initially intended. All the ASEAN Focal Points who were present at the meeting agreed to share the names and types of STI institutions and the talent mobility projects/programmes that they currently conduct. The types of institutions are categorized as: 1) state enterprises; 2) government agencies; 3) educational institutions; 4) private/business enterprises; 5) non-‐profit organizations; and 6) others (to be specified). 3 10. This study will consider only geographical mobility of talent personnel in STI across ASEAN Member Countries and ASEAN dialogue partners. The durations of the mobility are categorised into 3 cases of: 1) short term: 2 weeks to 2 months; 2) medium term: 2-‐6 months; and 3) long term: more than 6 months. 11. The meeting agreed to divide the study on the State of ATM into 2 phases. The first phase of the study is to identify the incentives and barriers pertaining to the mobility of talents at the organisational level and the second phase is to conduct the study at the individual level. During the first phase, a questionnaire will be used as a survey instrument for data collection. Both phases will consider mobility of the STI personnel in the intra-‐ and inter-‐ ASEAN region. 12. The incentives and barriers are to be categorised into 4 groups which are: a. personal factors; b. professional factors; c.
job related factors; and d. government policy and regulation related factors. Project Timeline 13. The ATM study team of Thailand will circulate the questionnaire in both electronic and hardcopy formats to all the national focal points and country representatives who participated in this workshop by the end of December 2014. The national focal points and country representatives will then contact and distribute the questionnaire to all relevant STI organizations in their respective countries. The national data collection shall be completed by the end of February 2015. 14. The country representatives agreed to collaborate with the ATM team, if requested, to contact and organize the meetings with the targeted organizations or key personnel in their home countries in order to conduct further in-‐depth interviews. 15. According to the proposal on the Study on the State of ASEAN Talent Mobility that was endorsed at the ABAPAST-‐25, COST-‐68 and IAMMST-‐8 meetings in Bogor, Indonesia in August 2014, there will be USD$1000 provided to each AMS for data collection and conduction of focus group meeting in order to gain necessary insight and conclusion on the state of their national talent mobility. 4 16. The results of the online survey will be presented and discussed during the 3rd ATM Workshop in Thailand in March 2015. Each AMC agreed to send 2 representatives to participate in the 3rd ATM Workshop. The exact date and venue of the next workshop will be announced later. Acknowledgement and More Information 17. Thailand ATM team thanked all the ASEAN country representatives who participated and contributed to the success of the 2nd ATM workshop and looked forward to further collaborations in developing and completing the ATM survey and study. 18. More details on the 2nd ASEAN Talent Mobility Workshop are available at www.aseantalent.net. The meeting concluded with the workshop participants expressed their appreciation to the National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office (STI), Ministry of Science and Technology of Thailand for hosting the 2nd ASEAN Talent Mobility Workshop. The ASEAN Talent Mobility Workshop was held in the traditional spirit of ASEAN cordiality and solidarity. ************************** 5 ANNEX 1 Welcome Address and Introduction to the 2nd ASEAN Talent Mobility Workshop Dr. Yada Mukdapitak Deputy Secretary General of National Science Technology and Innovation Policy Office, Thailand Dr. Yada welcomed all the ASEAN participants and EUREXESS and China GEI to the 2nd ATM Workshop. She also summarised the results and outcome of the 1st ATM Workshop in Phuket, Thailand in March 2014. During the first workshop, all the AMC agreed that talent mobility of STI human resources among the ASEAN countries was crucial to the increase of STI capacity building and the success of the ASEAN community integration. Therefore, a better understanding of the current situation of STI personnel in ASEAN is needed in order to comprehend the prominent issues of not having enough and not being attractive enough to attract local and international R&D researchers, technicians and innovators in the ASEAN region. This is why COST-‐68 and IAMMST-‐8 in Bogor, Indonesia endorsed the development of “the Study on the State of ASEAN Talent Mobility” in order to find out the statistics and mobility of the local and international talents and the incentives and barriers of attracting and maintaining them in the intra-‐ and inter-‐ ASEAN region. Collaborations and linkages among all the relevant stakeholders such as the governments, the policy makers, the academia and the private firms in the ASEAN STI ecosystem are also important in promoting cross-‐sector and cross-‐border talent mobility. ASEAN governments have to provide suitable policies and incentives to support other stakeholders in the STI ecosystem. School, universities and education institutes in ASEAN need to increase research collaborations among their ASEAN partners, whilst ASEAN private companies need to invest in the capacity and capability building of their workforce in order to be more competitive in the more challenging global market. The aim of this workshop is to develop the study and the survey that will capture the key factors and gain insights into the status and situation of ASEAN talent. Furthermore, this is an important step to promote STI talent mobility that will contribute greatly toward our goal of becoming more integrated and more united ASEAN. 6 ANNEX 2 Experiences from the EU with the MORE Study Dr. Anna Karaoglou Directorate-‐General for Research and innovation, European Commission Ms. Kitty Fehringer European Commission Mr. Simon Grimley South East Asia Regional Representative, EURAXESS Dr. Xiangmeng Shen Project Coordinatior, EURAXESS Links Central Management at the German Aerospace Centre The representatives from EURAXESS shared their experiences with the MORE study commissioned by the EU. The study targeted researchers and scientists mainly in the 27 member countries in the EU with special emphasis on EU-‐US mobility. It was intended to be utilised as the evidence for policy recommendations, particularly in open labour market policy in the region. The study identified universities, research organisations, industries, and researchers themselves as the main stakeholders. Motives and barriers to mobilise were determined in the study through surveys. The results were used to develop more attractive programmes suitable for the EU researchers, while key barriers were identified and lifted. The EU mobility programmes are governed by steering committees composing of several member countries. The members are selected based on their work experiences and the countries for which the members are working and not by their countries of origin. The committees oversee the central mobility policies, coordinate and monitor individual national mobility programmes as well as assist the countries that are lacking behind by helping to enhance the local mobility network infrastructure. The EU uses a common portal to link the data from the national mobility networks of all the EU member states. The representatives from the EU pointed out several issues that are needed in order to develop successful mobility programmes. For examples, securing sufficient funding is essential, particularly in the case of less developed countries; a mentoring system is helpful for young researchers to quickly develop their careers and expertise; and social security, pension fund, and family related issues should be addressed at the early stages of the programmes. 7 ANNEX 3 China Experience in Promoting Mobility of STI Talents and Potential Joint Collaborations with ASEAN Member Countries Mr. Wang Delu President of Greatwall Enterprise Institute (GEI), China Mr. Delu discussed how China had attracted Chinese talents from oversea to return home. These talents have created over 6,000 new high-‐tech startups and about 100 of them are now listed in the stock exchange markets both locally and overseas. The Thousand Talents Program is an example of a talent mobility programme initiated by the Chinese government to attract top-‐notch scientists, technologists and engineers who received their doctoral degrees from abroad to return to China. Each of the returnees is given 50,000 CNY if they decide to start a hi-‐tech business in Z-‐Park industrial zone in Zhongguancun. Through this program there have been over 10,000 Chinese returnees. Mr. Delu added that to be competitive in the dynamic globalization, circulation of talents, capital, as well as technologies were the key elements for innovation, and proposed collaboration with ASEAN Member Countries (AMC). One possibility is by the ASEAN Thousand Talents Program that focuses on supporting new high-‐tech SMEs. Another possible project is through ASEAN-‐China 10+1 Tech-‐Entrepreneurial Talent Mobility Program that acts as a platform to match S&T entrepreneurial talents with their needs. The outcome of the programme can also be used to formulate relevant policy recommendations to promote ASEAN-‐
China talent mobility. Innovative Highlands that connect 1-‐2 science parks from each AMC with the Chinese science parks or high-‐tech zones are one of the possible initiatives for ASEAN-‐China STI cooperation. Another possible collaboration is setting up a joint STI Policy Research Center to conduct STI policy research and enhance STI policy planning and implementation.