LCQ16: Enhancing talent policies and talent training
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Question:
The Committee on Education, Technology and Talents, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, proposed that Hong Kong could more precisely align with its positioning of the "eight centres" to continuously enhance talent policies and strengthen the nurturing of local talents. There are views that, when admitting and nurturing talents, the authorities should adopt a clear industry-oriented approach to ensure that the talent supply can effectively support the long-term development of various key areas. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) to support the talent deployment for the positioning of the "eight centres", whether the authorities have set priority talent categories and specific performance indicators (such as the inflow of talent and job growth by industry) tailored to the needs of different centres; if so, whether they have monitored the relevant indicators; if not, whether they will consider making the overall deployment plan public;
(2) whether the authorities have regularly compiled statistics on whether various categories of talents coming to Hong Kong are engaged in industries related to the "eight centres", their retention in Hong Kong and their employment distribution; if so, whether they will consider regularly publishing the relevant data or trends to enable public understanding of the implementation of the policy; if not, the reasons for that;
(3) while actively admitting foreign talent, how the authorities will ensure local talents effectively meet the industry needs of the "eight centres"; whether they have established a mechanism to regularly evaluate the effectiveness of local training and job matching in relation to the talent needs of the "eight centres"; if not, the reasons for that; and
(4) in line with the requirements for high-quality development in the 15th Five-Year Plan and to address the talent needs of the "eight centres" and emerging industries, what specific measures the authorities have put in place at the higher and vocational education levels to encourage more students to pursue disciplines related to the development of the "eight centres"?
Reply:
President,
The Chief Executive announced in the 2024 Policy Address the establishment of the Committee on Education, Technology and Talents (CETT), whose purpose is to enhance the system, aggregation and synergy of policies with top-level co-ordination of cross-bureau efforts to drive the integrated development of the three areas. This enables Hong Kong in the longer run to build rich talent resources, knowledge reserve, and capacities for scientific and technological innovation, thereby enhancing our competitiveness. Since its establishment, the CETT has emphasised achieving breakthroughs through reform and innovation, and formulating macro policy directions, including building on the strategic positioning and advantages of the "eight centres" and flexibly introducing and gathering specialised talent of various sectors to build an international hub for high-calibre talent for the high-quality development of Hong Kong and the country and accelerating the building of a great modern country.
In consultation with the Commerce and Economic Development Bureau; the Culture, Sports and Tourism Bureau; the Department of Justice; the Education Bureau (EDB); the Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau; the Innovation, Technology and lndustry Bureau; and the Transport and Logistics Bureau, my reply to the various parts of the question is as follows:
(1) and (3) The Government compiles Manpower Projection on a regular basis to assess the trends of future manpower supply and requirements in different local key sectors at the macro level. The Manpower Projection completed in 2023 incorporated the "eight centres" into its analytical framework to study the manpower and skills requirements of relevant key industries. The projection findings help the Government and various stakeholders, including businesses and training institutions, to get hold of the situation of manpower and skills shortages in key industries and trades in Hong Kong, so as to formulate more precise short-term and medium-to-long-term strategies on the manpower development training and employment in their responsible industries. The Government is currently conducting a mid-term update of the Manpower Projection, and the findings are expected to be released in the fourth quarter of 2026.
The main thrust of the Government's manpower policy is to nurture local talents, complemented by attraction of outside talents. Different policy bureaux and departments have been closely liaising with their industries, so as to formulate corresponding measures in response to the latest industry development and manpower situation, including taking forward a number of sector-specific talent training programmes to enrich the local talent resources. To support the development of the "eight centres", relevant policy bureaux have implemented various measures to attract and nurture talents. Relevant examples are at Annex.
In addition to strengthening the training for local talents, the Government has also drawn up the Talent List to attract high-quality talents from different industries and professional sectors in a more effective and focused manner. The Talent List was reviewed and expanded in 2021, 2023 and 2025 to cover high-quality talents who would support the development of Hong Kong's high value-added and diversified economy but are not readily available in the local employment market and cannot be nurtured by local training in good time.
The Government last updated the Talent List in March 2025 to include the industries required for the development of the "eight centres". The number of professions covered was expanded to 60 by including nine newly-added ones. Newly added professions are from the industry segments of financial services (accountants, financial professionals with Islamic market experience and experienced professionals in commodities trading), innovation and technology (experienced systems architects and patent professionals), legal and dispute resolution services (legal knowledge engineers) and aviation and shipping (ship surveyors, professionals in green shipping and aircraft maintenance engineers). At present, the Talent List is applicable to the General Employment Policy, the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals, and the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme. Eligible talents from the professions covered by the Talent List applying for admission to Hong Kong under the above schemes can enjoy immigration facilitation. The Government will review and update the Talent List in a timely manner with regard to the local manpower situation. Relevant bureaux and departments have been in close communication with industry stakeholders to understand their views on manpower demand.
(2) The Government releases to the Legislative Council and media, etc, from time to time the statistics regarding the sectors in which incoming talents are engaged. The Immigration Department also publishes and updates on its website on a quarterly basis the relevant statistics of talents approved to come to Hong Kong under the various talent admission schemes.
(4) The EDB indicates that the Government has all along encouraged the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities to offer programmes which cater for Hong Kong's development needs, expand the talent pool of important areas and strengthen Hong Kong's competitiveness. In the 2022 Policy Address, the Government announced the target of having 35 per cent of the students of the UGC-funded universities studying STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) subjects and 60 per cent studying subjects relevant to the "eight centres" by the 2026/27 academic year.
During the 2025 to 2028 triennium, the eight UGC-funded universities collectively offer more than 300 undergraduate programmes related to the "eight centres" in each academic year, of which 27 are related to STEAM. These programmes cover rapidly developing and highly popular emerging fields among young people in recent years, such as artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, creative industries, sustainable development and data science. Not only will they consolidate Hong Kong's development in innovation and technology and the "eight centres", but also create opportunities for young people to give full play to their strengths, thereby promoting greater social and economic diversification.
As regards self-financing post-secondary education, the EDB will consult relevant policy bureaux annually and adjust suitably the selected disciplines, relevant subsidised programmes and the number of subsidised places under the Study Subsidy Scheme for Designated Professions/Sectors (SSSDP), having regard to Hong Kong's socio-economic development and the needs of the industries (including the "eight centres" and emerging industries), with a view to incentivising students and parents to enrol in such programmes, focusing on nurturing talents for industries with keen manpower demand. Starting from the 2024/25 academic year, the EDB has provided additional subsidies to students enrolling in applied degree programmes under SSSDP, and from the 2027/28 academic year onwards, priority will be accorded to AI-related programmes for inclusion under SSSDP to further align with Hong Kong's demand for high-tech talents in the field of innovation and technology.
In addition, starting from the 2025/26 academic year, the Government introduces the Hong Kong Future Talents Scholarship Scheme for Advanced Studies (FTSS), offering scholarships each year to up to 1 200 local students enrolling in designated taught postgraduate programmes at the eight UGC-funded universities or self-financing universities (including universities of applied sciences). FTSS focuses on high-quality programmes dovetailing with Hong Kong's positioning as the "eight centres" which, on the one hand, nurtures local high-calibre talents for the future development of Hong Kong and, on the other hand, encourages universities to offer more postgraduate programmes related to the said areas.
Ends/Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Issued at HKT 11:50
Issued at HKT 11:50
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