The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, chaired the eighth meeting of the second-term Human Resources Planning Commission today (November 8) to brief members on the initiatives related to human resources development in "The Chief Executive's 2022 Policy Address" and listen to their views.

     At the meeting, members took note of the Government's series of new initiatives to trawl for talents. A Top Talent Pass Scheme will be launched to attract high-income earners and graduates of the world's top 100 universities to come to Hong Kong. Enhancements will be made to various existing talent admission schemes, including streamlining/relaxing the General Employment Policy, the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals and the Immigration Arrangements for Non‑local Graduates, suspending the annual quota under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, and lifting the requirement to employ additional local employees while admitting talents from outside Hong Kong under the Technology Talent Admission Scheme. To retain incoming talents for long-term development in Hong Kong, the limit of stay of their employment visas will be extended and the extra stamp duty paid by eligible talents in purchasing residential property in Hong Kong will be refunded upon their becoming permanent residents. A Talents Service Unit led by the Chief Secretary for Administration will be set up by the Government to provide one-stop support for incoming talents.

     Also, the Government will roll out a number of new initiatives related to manpower development to dovetail with Hong Kong’s positioning of "eight centres" under the National 14th Five-Year Plan to enhance the competitive advantages of the industries concerned, and establish an Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises to attract high-potential and representative strategic enterprises from around the globe to Hong Kong. The Government's other initiatives related to human resources development include commencing a new round of manpower projections, addressing manpower shortages in individual sectors, ensuring sufficient healthcare manpower for the public healthcare system, and stepping up efforts to drive STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics) education, post-secondary education, vocational and professional education and training, employee retraining and so forth.

     Members welcomed the various new initiatives of "The Chief Executive's 2022 Policy Address", particularly those on trawling for talents, and the relevant indicators (including key performance indicators (KPIs)) set for the Government and society at large to monitor the progress and effectiveness of specific tasks. They also offered comments on ways of attracting quality talents to stay in Hong Kong for long-term development and, in turn, bring with them the relevant businesses to foster the development of the industries concerned in the city.

     Chairing the meeting of the Commission for the first time, Mr Chan said, "Talent is the essential impetus for Hong Kong's continuous development. In view of the shrinkage of the local workforce by about 140 000, including relatively prime-age and high-skilled workers, over the past two years, we have to adopt a bold and innovative approach to trawling for quality talents to boost Hong Kong's competitiveness. While taking forward the initiatives concerned, the Government will also steadfastly safeguard the interests of the local workforce as well as actively nurture and retain local talents, with a focus on equipping through education and training the youth with skills required by future industrial and economic developments.

     "The various initiatives in 'The Chief Executive's 2022 Policy Address' are visionary and give full play to people's abilities to meet the imminent, medium-term and long-term development needs of Hong Kong. The Government looks forward to joining with all walks of life to bring them to fruition at full steam."

Ends/Tuesday, November 8, 2022
Issued at HKT 19:10

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