Chief Secretary Chan Kwok-ki delivers a speech during the Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) Office Opening Ceremony at the Wan Chai Revenue Tower on Oct 30, 2023. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)
The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government officially launched the Hong Kong Talent Engage (HKTE) Office on Monday to provide better support to incoming talent, as well as to formulate talent attraction strategies and to follow up with the development and needs of such people after their arrival.
During the office’s opening ceremony on Monday, government officials said that they will continue to compete in attracting talent from all over the world, and that a global summit will be hosted in 2024 for enhancing communication and cooperation with talented people in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
Last year, the government rolled out a slew of new talent schemes — including the Top Talent Pass — in a bid to draw 35,000 talented individuals annually to Hong Kong
The office is located at 12/F, Revenue Tower, 5 Gloucester Road, Wan Chai, on Hong Kong Island. The office was packed with guests from Hong Kong, the Chinese mainland and overseas, who were happy to mark the moment of the office’s official opening.
READ MORE: HK's talent trawl okays over 100,000 admission applications
Director of the office Lau Chun-hon said that the Global Talent Summit cum Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area High-quality Talent Development Conference will be held in 2024 to promote regional exchange and cooperation in talent attraction.
Lau said that the main objective of the office is to attract talent from around the world to Hong Kong for long-term development, and the work will be conducted in different aspects, including analyzing the source of talent recruited in the nine sectors on the Talent List Hong Kong; telling the world about Hong Kong’s advantages through targeted promotions; providing one-stop support for housing and education; cooperating with different parties to travel overseas to contact talent; and providing online and offline services and activities, etc.
Last year, the government rolled out a slew of new talent schemes — including the Top Talent Pass Scheme — in a bid to draw 35,000 talented individuals annually to Hong Kong.
Chan Kwok-ki, chief secretary for administration, said at the ceremony that the city has far exceeded that goal. Taking the TTP as an example, the city received over 160,000 applications in the first nine months of the scheme, with more than 100,000 of them approved, and over 60,000 talented individuals having arrived in Hong Kong.
Chan also believes that more talent will be attracted to Hong Kong under the help of the new office.
Chan said that Hong Kong is still attractive to talent, with its advantages of being close to the country plus its wide global connections under the “one country, two systems” principle, despite the past social unrest and the pandemic.
Director of the Hong Kong Talent Engagge Office Anthony Lau Chun-hon (left) speaks to members of the media after the HKTE Office Opening Ceremony at the Wan Chai Revenue Tower on Oct 30, 2023. (ANDY CHONG / CHINA DAILY)
Also attending the opening ceremony, Chris Sun Yuk-Han, secretary for Labour and Welfare, said the government will revise the talent list if there is sufficient local talent, with the quota for incoming talent being subject to downsizing if necessary. Sun also pointed out that talent that has arrived from places other than the Chinese mainland — those who have studied overseas or are foreign nationals — account for around 20 per cent of the talented individuals that have arrived in Hong Kong.
READ MORE: HK's talent admission programs get over 120,000 applications
The list, first published in 2018, was expanded in 2023 to cover 51 professions under nine different industries. The industries listed are those in dire need of qualified and talented individuals, and will be given consideration through three existing talent schemes.
The establishment of the HKTE is one of the new initiatives announced by Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu in his latest Policy Address. It was formerly known as the Talents Service Unit, an online platform for talent services launched in December 2022.
HKTE is tasked with working with organizations and stakeholders in various sectors to proactively trawl the globe for talented individuals from diverse backgrounds.
Icey Yin Bin-na, who came to Hong Kong in 2017 to work for an insurance company, shared some details of her experience in the city at the opening ceremony.
Before coming to the city, she was concerned about whether she would have opportunities to meet and socialize with others. However, after arriving in Hong Kong, she quickly felt a sense of belonging and found there were many social activities she could enjoy.
Yin, who has a bachelor’s degree in finance from a mainland university, successfully attained a master’s degree in Hong Kong after she came to the city.
She said that the city is energetic and inclusive, and the government’s policies to help those coming to Hong Kong to better adapt have increased the city’s attractiveness.
“The cost and pressure of living in Hong Kong are not as terrible as imagined,” Yin added. “If you make good trade-offs, you can live comfortably.” She said that there are many outstanding and hardworking people in Hong Kong, and everyone can achieve success so long as they seize the opportunities.
Thomas Decamps, originally from France, had worked in France and the UK before coming to Hong Kong. He enrolled on an MBA course at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and afterwards found employment in the city.
“Within 20 minutes, you can go hiking, and everyone can speak English,” said Decamps, describing Hong Kong as a global city where it is easy to integrate. Compared with other cities he has lived in previously, he said, Hong Kong is the most comfortable place.
