A woman (center) walks through the central business district in Hong Kong on March 1, 2023. (PHOTO / AFP)

HONG KONG – Hong Kong will step up collaboration with the cities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area to develop the region into a major talent center, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun said Wednesday.

Answering a query at the Legislative Council, Sun said the Labour and Welfare Bureau will also formulate suitable talent admission schemes and review existing ones after the local workforce “shrunk by more than 100,000 over the past two years.”

Sun said the LWB was also setting up the physical office of the Hong Kong Talent Engage to “proactively and vigorously promote the city's advantages, tell good stories of Hong Kong and attract more talents to come”

“The Chief Executive decisively put forward an array of new initiatives of trawling for talents in the 2022 Policy Address to attract outside talents in a more proactive manner to fill the manpower gap in addition to nurturing local talents,” Sun said.   

“We will leverage on Hong Kong's advantages to take on the role as the gateway for incoming talents to the GBA talent center,” he added. 

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Sun said the LWB was also enhancing manpower planning and setting up the physical office of the Hong Kong Talent Engage to “proactively and vigorously promote the city's advantages, tell good stories of Hong Kong and attract more talents to come.”

“We will also help talents connect with different sectors of community, thereby facilitating their settlement and long-term development in Hong Kong,” he said. 

Sun added that the LWB was reviewing existing training and retraining arrangements, and exploring appropriate measures to promote and foster “upskilling and reskilling of the local labor force.”

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“Senior government officials and various bureaux will closely monitor changes in the local population and services demand, timely review and enhance relevant strategies and initiatives under their purview to meet Hong Kong's economic and social development needs,” he said.