Globalisation is increasingly creating intense pressure for one of the most precious resources on Earth - human talent. If raw materials and technology are the organs and limbs of a healthy and successful economy, talented and educated people are the DNA.
The rise of China and India as economic superpowers will pose tough new challenges for developed countries accustomed to being the big winners in the 'brain drain' from these previously poor nations. Now these two economies are increasingly 'brain gainers', as overseas Chinese and Indians return home to take part in the exciting development of their countries.
The Public Policy Institute of California has reported that 45 per cent of some 300,000 Indian-born IT professionals in Silicon Valley would probably return home in the near future. And about 200,000 Chinese immigrants have returned to the mainland in recent years as China's economy continues to expand at a record pace and the trend is set to accelerate. Even Hong Kong is fighting for talent, with plans for a major overhaul of immigration and employment restrictions to attract high-quality people.
In his book Flight Capital, American globalisation expert David Heenan makes the argument that the next global war will be fought over human capital. Indeed the US is already losing it, he says, as scientists, doctors and engineers return to the developing countries of their birth. While Dr Heenan may be too alarmist, emerging economies are clearly in a battle for the world's best and brightest.
As the economic axis of the world tilts towards Asia, rich western countries can no longer rely on a steady queue of capable immigrants turning up on their doorsteps. Facing declining birth rates, they will need to work harder to attract enough talented immigrants if they are to keep their economies growing. For example, Canada's population growth will depend solely on immigration by 2030.
How nations market themselves to prospective new citizens will largely determine their success in the new world economy. Now more than ever, importing talent is a vital ingredient of nation building; more than one-third of Nobel laureates from the US are immigrants. The developed countries likely to fare best amid these changes are those on the Pacific Rim - Canada, the US, Australia and New Zealand. Traditionally immigrant nations, they are closer geographically to Asia and have societies willing to accept new people.
