​     The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, chaired the 22nd meeting of the Youth Development Commission (YDC) today (August 27).
 
     At the meeting, members were briefed on the work and progress of the six Action Groups set up under the YDC. Furthermore, the Labour Department introduced various measures to promote youth employment. These included the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme (GBA YES), the Youth Employment and Training Programme (YETP) and the Youth Employment Start. Various enhancement measures have been put in place in recent years, such as relaxing the age limit for participants to 29 or below, increasing the allowances provided for enterprises as well as the attachment training allowances for trainees, and launching the GBA Work Experience Attachment Programme to enable young people to gain a better understanding of the development opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and broaden their career prospects.
 
     Mr Chan said, "The Government has been adopting a multipronged approach to support youth employment, and the various enhancement measures have yielded tangible progress. Among others, the number of job vacancies and employed young people in the GBA YES last year increased by 24.5 per cent and 45.6 per cent respectively, while the number of trainees applying to the YETP in the programme year 2025/26 represented an increase of 23 per cent compared with the same period in the previous year. We will continue to closely monitor the changes in the economic environment and the labour market, and timely review and enhance the various support measures. At the same time, we will strengthen collaboration among policy bureaux to broaden career development opportunities for young people, with a view to helping them unleash their potential and achieve their aspirations, while injecting a steady stream of vitality into Hong Kong's long-term development."

Ends/Thursday, August 27, 2026
Issued at HKT 18:25

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