Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, on the expanded Talent List at a media session before attending a meeting of the Legislative Council Panel on Manpower this afternoon (May 16):

Reporter: Mr Sun, why is the Government expanding the Talent List at this moment and why specifically on the medical and construction sectors? On the KPI, what is the aim of the Government? Are you confident that you can reach this aim in attracting more talent?

Secretary for Labour and Welfare: Thank you for your question. Expanding the Talent List is part and parcel of our effort to attract talent to Hong Kong. It's a follow-up to the work plan set out by the Chief Executive last October. The Talent List covered 13 professions. As for today, the Talent List is expanded to comprise altogether 51 professions, covering nine sectors. The purpose of the Talent List is to provide facilitation for foreign talent to come to Hong Kong under three schemes:

(1) The Quality Migrant Admission Scheme is a scoring system. For those fulfilling the Talent List requirements of respective professions, they will get 30 extra points under the General Points Test. This is a points system; and
(2) The General Employment Policy and (3) the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals are employment-driven. If employers are going to recruit people outside Hong Kong fitting the professions of the Talent List, they do not have to prove to the Immigration Department the local recruitment requirement, which will be waived for jobs falling within the remit of the Talent List. The main purpose is to enable employers to get the talent they need to help Hong Kong grow. 

     On the key performance indicator (KPI), the overall KPI we set for ourselves on talent is to attract at least 35 000 talent into Hong Kong each year from this year to the next two years and they are expected to stay in Hong Kong for at least 12 months through the talent admission schemes. We are confident that we are going to make that target for this year, having regard to the very positive response to the various schemes we have put in place to attract talent from out of Hong Kong to Hong Kong to help us grow our economy.

Ends/Tuesday, May 16, 2023
Issued at HKT 18:05

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