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SLW: Hong Kong forging ahead with global talent recruitment (with photos)
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     The Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, today (January 7) concluded his visit to Singapore after getting a grasp on its experience of talent recruitment and manpower development with his team in the past two days.

     Mr Sun met with the Chinese Ambassador to Singapore, Ms Sun Haiyan, yesterday (January 6) and updated her on the latest labour market and economic situation in Hong Kong. He then called on the Minister for Manpower of Singapore, Dr Tan See Leng, and exchanged views on attracting talents amid the dual challenge of ageing population and shrinking labour force of the two places as exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. They also discussed seizing the advantages of the role of Hong Kong and Singapore as part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the gateway to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations respectively, thereby boosting the attractiveness of Asia to talents around the world.

     Mr Sun's delegation visited the Institute of Technical Education yesterday to keep abreast of its vocational and professional education and training from pre-employment to in-service programmes, equipping post-secondary students for the digital economy. He visited an enterprise on life and health technology this morning, which has established foothold in Hong Kong, Singapore and other parts of Southeast Asia, to take a closer look at facilitation measures needed for high potential enterprises to set up operations in major economies.

     While in Singapore, Mr Sun met with academics from Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore, including its Senior Vice President (Health and Life Sciences), Professor Joseph Sung, representatives of the Hong Kong Singapore Business Association, and Hong Kong people working or studying in Singapore to learn about their living conditions and garner their views on enhanced talent admission initiatives. Mr Sun appealed to them to stay connected with and consider returning or coming to Hong Kong to pursue their businesses, professions and careers.

     Concluding his visit to Singapore, Mr Sun said that the three-year-long global pandemic had impeded the entry of outside talents to Hong Kong. Set out in the Chief Executive's maiden Policy Address, a package of new measures on talent attraction has been launched last week and open for application, including the Top Talent Pass Scheme designed to entice graduates from the world's top 100 universities (including National University of Singapore and NTU Singapore) or talents earning HK$2.5 million (or about S$430,000) a year to pursue their career in Hong Kong. The online platform of the Talents Service Unit "HK Talent Engage" (www.hkengage.gov.hk) also commenced operation to streamline and fast-track applications received under various talent admission schemes. He added that the experience of Singapore served as valuable reference for Hong Kong to trawl for quality talents and improve manpower projections in future.

     Mr Sun will depart for Manila, the Philippines, tomorrow (January 8) and proceed with his visit.
 
Ends/Saturday, January 7, 2023
Issued at HKT 18:19
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