Reza Faraji- Dana, Rouhani’s first Minister of Science, who was recently impeached by the regime’s parliament (Majlis) said this in an interview with Jomhouri- Islami , a state-run daily on September 7.
Faraji Dana said “The truth of the matter is that as acknowledged by country’s officials and as reported by the international institutions such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), presently our country is ranking first among 91 developed and developing countries with 150,000 to 180,000 immigrants per year.”
The report quoted the Management and Planning Organization Weekly: “Ninety out of 125 students who in the past three years achieved rankings in global Olympiads are currently studying in American or Canadian universities. In the past 14 years, 62% of the students ranking first to third in the Olympiads have migrated to developed countries. Most of them have not only studied in world’s premier research centers such as Harvard, Stanford, Cambridge, Toronto…, and finished their studies, but they are now working as professors there.”
The report by Management and Planning Organization Weekly elaborated: “Cultural and educational issues and problems such as getting a doctorate degree rather than its studies, administrative and ill management problems like treatment based on sectarian and family background in benefiting from scientific advantages such as scholarships and educational opportunities, interference of political matters in scientific affairs, economic and political instability, disregard for science and research, economic factors like unemployment and government monopolies, and losing hope in future are the principal reasons for the migration of the elite.”
Meanwhile, the flight of the work force is another important crisis of the regime. Speaking on the matter, Ahmad Jabari, representative of the West of Hormozgan Province and member of parliament’s Committee on Development, said: “Many of the people in the southern cities prefer to work in the Gulf countries, especially Emirates, rather than Iran since there are many job opportunities there and investors are also protected.
He added: “The guarantee for the return of investment and security are the most important factors that attract investments, but our country lacks them; and even the initial investment disappears in a short span of time let alone return any profits.”
