Iran needs drastic reforms to mitigate brain drain's impact on economy, tech sector

Al-Monitor Pro Members

Dr. Bijan Khajehpour

Managing Partner, Eurasian Nexus Partners, Vienna, Austria 

July 5, 2023

Deteriorating socioeconomic conditions and the absence of a functioning ecosystem for innovation and entrepreneurship are compelling many educated Iranians to migrate, depriving the domestic economy of the needed talent pool. Though on average Iran still has plenty of educated human resources, a continuation of the negative conditions will weaken the essence of the economy and shift the impetus of Iran’s educated elite to other countries, especially the United Arab Emirates. This trend will contribute to the shift of entrepreneurial and technological balance of power in the region to the detriment of Iran.