Recently, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has launched a number of new and optimized talent entry measures to "grab talents" from all over the world, which has received widespread attention and positive responses.
The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Li Jiachao, said that Hong Kong is one of the most competitive economies in the world, and it is also an important window for the mainland to connect with the international market.
Introduced a number of talent recruitment policies
Attracting talents is one of the key points of the 2022 Policy Address of the HKSAR Government.
In his first policy address during his tenure, Lee Ka-chao put forward a number of measures to "grab talents", including the establishment of a "talent service window". , to provide "one-stop" support for talents coming to Hong Kong, launch the "High-end Talent Pass Program", optimize the existing multiple input talent programs, and strengthen attractiveness, etc.
Among them, the "Talent Service Window" online platform was put into operation at the end of last year.
Chen Guoji, Chief Secretary for Administration of the SAR Government, said that now is the golden time for Hong Kong to take the initiative and compete for talents.
The SAR government will go all out to comprehensively promote a series of new measures such as the "Talent Service Window" to supplement and enrich Hong Kong's talent pool and meet the needs of Hong Kong's future economic and social development.
The two-year "High-end Talent Pass Program" has also started accepting applications at the end of 2022.
Qualified talents include those with an annual salary of HK$2.5 million or above in the past year, and those who graduated from top 100 universities in the world and have accumulated 3 or more years of work experience in the past 5 years.
Sun Yuhan, Director of the Labor and Welfare Bureau of the Special Administrative Region Government, recently introduced that the "High-end Talent Pass Program" has received more than 5,300 applications about two weeks after its launch, with an average of 350 to 400 applications per day, and about 60% of them have been approved. Responses from all walks of life warm.
In addition, the SAR government has also optimized various existing talent programs such as the "General Employment Policy" and "Inland Talents Importation Program" to enhance the attractiveness of outstanding talents.
For example, starting from January 1 this year, the annual quota of the "Quality Talent Admission Scheme" will be canceled for a period of two years, and the approval process will be simplified.
In the field of innovation and technology, the SAR government has also optimized the "Science and Technology Talent Admission Program", canceling the requirement that technology companies must recruit local employees when importing foreign talents under the plan, and expanding the number of emerging technology industries to 14 to speed up the import of talents pace.
Release a strong signal of thirst for talents
Public opinion in Hong Kong believes that the word "grab" shows the change of the Hong Kong SAR government's governance philosophy, from "active non-intervention" to active action and courage to take responsibility.
"In the past, we passively waited for talents to come to our door, but now we have to take the initiative to find talents." Li Jiachao said that due to various factors in the past two years, Hong Kong's local labor force has lost about 140,000 people, and many industries are facing manpower shortages. Be more proactive in "grabbing talents".
"Right now we're being proactive about 'knocking on the door' and telling people we have a lot of new policies."
According to the target set by the SAR government, it is estimated that from 2023 to 2025, it will attract at least 35,000 talents each year through various talent import programs, that is, at least 105,000 talents will be attracted in three years.
The above target of attracting talents has increased by 40% compared with the average annual number of last year and the year before.
"We must go all out and have full confidence to make the KPI reach the standard." Chen Guoji said.
Hong Kong is making every effort to build an international innovation and technology center, and the innovation and technology industry has ushered in unprecedented opportunities, but the shortage of scientific and technological talents has become a major obstacle to the development of Hong Kong's innovation and technology enterprises.
In this regard, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government announced the "Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint" not long ago, clearly proposing to enrich the talent resources of innovation and technology, and plan to increase the number of employees in the innovation and technology industry from the current approximately 45,000 to no less than 100,000 by 2032. .
"The measures proposed in the blueprint to increase efforts to attract high-tech talents and strengthen support for basic scientific research in universities are very sincere. I believe that after these measures are implemented, we will welcome and retain batch after batch of high-quality innovation and technology talents. "Said Wang Zuankai, associate vice president of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Encourage talents to settle down in Hong Kong
"Talent grabbing" is a systematic project, including work visas, scientific research support, achievement transformation, talent housing, children's enrollment, social security, settlement policies and other links, requiring a complete set of system design.
In this regard, the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has made a series of corresponding plans.
For example, in order to actively attract innovative talents from home and abroad to come to Hong Kong, the SAR government plans to increase efforts to recruit young scientific research talents at home and abroad and attract Hong Kong overseas students to return to Hong Kong for development, strengthen funding for young scientific research scholars, increase talent accommodation facilities, and enhance the attribution of talents to encourage talents to take root in Hong Kong.
"For key industries, our talent policy has a series of 'tailor-made plans', including tax incentives, employee subsidies, living subsidies, etc. For example, companies need land, tax deductions, and even employees need to study and find a place to live. There are corresponding arrangements." Li Jiachao said that the SAR government has introduced these supporting measures in order to hope that after talents come to Hong Kong, they will feel the sincerity of Hong Kong's recruitment of talents, and take root as a part of the city of Hong Kong.
"Hong Kong itself is attractive, and this is our DNA." Li Jiachao believes that in addition to the inherent advantages of low tax rate, simple tax system, freedom and openness, and the integration of Chinese and Western cultures, Hong Kong also has the unique advantages of "one country, two systems".
A series of major national strategies and policy measures such as the national "14th Five-Year Plan" and the construction of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area have provided rare opportunities, inexhaustible power, and broad space for Hong Kong's development, and have greatly enhanced Hong Kong's attractiveness to outstanding talents .
Sun Yuhan also believes that Hong Kong has irreplaceable unique advantages in attracting talents.
What talents value most are opportunities and stages, and as Hong Kong and the mainland begin to resume normal personnel exchanges in stages, Hong Kong's advantages of "backing the motherland and connecting the world" will become more prominent, and the economic growth trend of the mainland will become a huge driving force , to attract more talents from home and abroad to develop in Hong Kong.
Wang Lingxi