This fascinating discussion with Vaishnavi Chandran, Chief of Staff, Indic EMS Electronics, is a thorough analysis of the role of the ex-pat in the exciting ramp up of electronics manufacturing in India. Like other Asian countries where education is a high priority for upwardly mobile professionals, many young people went to universities in other countries like the U.S., U.K. and Europe. As the opportunities in their home country increased, the trend is for these young people to go home and apply their skills to build and transform existing industries and create new ones as entrepreneurs. Vaishnavi, using her own experience, explains why the opportunities in India right now are so appealing. She says there are higher tangible benefits in using skills to contribute to the rapid scaling up of electronics manufacturing in India rather than merely creating efficiencies in the silo-ed systems of developed nations. This reverse ‘brain drain’ will have important implications in the success of this up and coming geography.
