Foreign Affairs Minister-designate, Samuel Okudzeto has outlined how President Mahama’s administration intends to resolve the issue of brain drain in the country.
Appearing before the Appointments Committee of Parliament, the ministerial nominee assured that under his leadership, government will enter into bilateral agreements with some of the Western countries for Ghanaian professionals to be exported to work abroad.
Okudzeto Ablakwa noted that brain drain when formalized through bilateral arrangements could benefit the country and solve the unemployment crisis.
“We need to make sure that this migration that is going on in search of employment in the country is regulated and it’s a win-win situation.
“Under my leadership, I will seek to aggressively pursue economic diplomacy in a way that allow for bilateral agreements to be signed.
“There are many countries looking for Ghanaians professionals and artisans why can’t we take advantage of that to solve our unemployment crisis and regulate the space,” he explained.
He said when given the nod, the Foreign Affairs ministry will prioritse the issue of brain drain and make it “brain gain”.
“Expect that one of our prioritise areas is to use foreign policy to solve unemployment. We’ll make sure that brain drain become brain gain where these bilateral agreements create jobs for the young people of our country,” he added.
Mr. Ablakwa cited countries like Cuba and Indonesia which have used strategic foreign policies and bilateral agreements to benefit from export labour.
