Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu speaks to the media ahead of the Executive Council meeting on April 4, 2023. (PHOTO / HKSAR GOVERNMENT)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong will deal decisively with a shortage of workers so that it will not affect services for the public and the city’s competitiveness, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu said on Tuesday.

Speaking to members of the media before the weekly Executive Council meeting, Lee stressed the need for the city to compete for talents and said the government will take the issue seriously.

“Regarding labor shortage in the construction and public transportation sectors, relevant government bureaus are actively studying the matter and formulating concrete strategies. They will make the annoucement soon on the overall strategies, hopefully by the middle of the year,” he said.

According to a Construction Industry Council report in February, the industry could see a shortage of be 10,000 skilled workers this year.

Different policy bureaus will also address manpower shortage in other sectors as soon as possible, Lee added.

ALSO READ: HK to boost retraining, explore increasing labor import

If the government was going to import workers, their wages must not be higher than the median to protect local workers, the chief executive said.

If the government was going to import workers, their wages must not be higher than the median to protect local workers, said Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu 

Lee said the SAR government will step up local training, such as employee retraining and professional training, and the relevant departments will review the situation and make the announcement as soon as possible.

He added that he had ordered relevant government bureaus and departments to look at the actual circumstances before making decisions and prioritize the construction and public transportation sectors.

Peter Shiu Ka-fai, a Legislative Council member for the Wholesale and Retail functional constituency, has suggested that the SAR government could import workers from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to avoid affecting housing rentals.

The government could also suspend extending their visas in times of economic recession, he added.

ALSO READ:Sea of activities on National Security Education Day

GBA visit

Meanwhile, Lee said in the same press briefing that as the city had fully resumed the normal exchanges with the mainland, the SAR's government officials and other civil service officials would visit the mainland more frequently, especially the cities in Guangdong province and the Greater Bay Area.

He said he would lead 90 LegCo members to visit the GBA at the end of this month to understand the advantages of the different cities in the region and boost cooperation.

"Legislators being part of the governance team of Hong Kong as a whole, I'm very keen to go with them so that we can study together different areas of developments in the GBA, so as to enhance co-operation with different cities for the benefit of Hong Kong, and for the benefit of the overall growth of the GBA," Lee said.

This trip will help them better understand the development of technology, youth and manufacturing, and create synergy in the various areas with the GBA, he added.

READ MORE: John Lee attends Boao Forum for Asia annual conference

Lee also said the Education Bureau will maintain communication with schools and consider merging or relocating some schools after a decrease in the number of students.