VIDEO 23:01 mins

The work done by TalentCorp Malaysia Bhd, the government body established to reverse brain drain in the country, is "admirable, but ultimately futile", says DAP's Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong.

NONE Speaking in KiniTV's talk show KiniTalk today, Liew ( left ) said this was because TalentCorp's efforts to woo Malaysian talent from abroad are doused by the fact that it is "fighting against the system" that has done little to effectively stop skilled labour from leaving for greener pastures.

"If TalentCorp manages to bring in 2,000 talents back to Malaysia, tens of thousands are still leaving the country every year," Liew said.

This, he said, was due to the fact that the fundamental issues confronting the country, such as social justice and political climate, are yet to be addressed and as such, talented people would still leave the country.

TalentCorp CEO Johan Mahmood Merican, who appeared on KiniTalk along with Liew, acknowledged the issues raised by Liew.

However, Johan said, the situation would become worse if TalentCorp did not continuously work to make sure Malaysia has a ready stock of talent to feed its economic transformation agenda as espoused by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

'We are feeding talent at the top'

"At least we are feeding talent at the top. Otherwise there will be continuous leaking (of talent) and we will lose a lot more," Johan said.

"We are trying to achieve some sort of equilibrium. We see ourselves as a piece of the jigsaw. Of course, other agencies should also function to stop the brain drain. But we are trying to reverse the brain drain," he said.

NONE Johan ( right ) said unlike previous government initiatives to bring back talent to Malaysia, TalentCorp was more demand driven, as it brings back people according to the demands of the new industry sectors.

"The short-term solution is Pemandu creates the demand and we and other agencies work to make sure these demands are met," he said.

Johan also said that issues of social justice, which he admitted featured high in the list of reasons many Malaysians left the country, were currently being systemically addressed by the government to make the country more appealing for talented, successful Malaysians to return.

TalentCorp, which was established by Najib in 2011, has so far been provided with RM65 million in operating expenditure.