Over 70,000 talents enter HK via various talent schemes, says John Lee

Over 70,000 talents have made their way to Hong Kong under various talent schemes in the first 10 months of this year, doubling the original goal of luring 35,000 talents annually, according to Hong Kong's leader John Lee. 

Lee said in a speech on Thursday at the establishment ceremony of the Hong Kong Top Talent Services Association, that the result is encouraging and fully proves that Hong Kong has high attractiveness and competitiveness in attracting global talents.

The association aims to help talents set foot in Hong Kong, get a job or start a business and live happily, “It would be best if they get married, have children and even buy a home,” he added.

Since the launch of innovative and proactive measures to attract talent to Hong Kong, over 180,000 applications have been received and more than 110,000 have been approved in the first 10 months of this year, Lee said.

Among all applications, the "Top Talent Pass Scheme" has received a total of about 55,000 applications, and more than 43,000 applications have been approved.

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With the launch of the association and measures to attract talent, Lee said the government is looking to provide practical information for newly arrived high-end talents in Hong Kong and create favourable conditions for them to smoothly integrate into living and working in Hong Kong.

Second, the government hopes to encourage talents to stay in Hong Kong for continued development. "Representatives of all associations are 'Hong Kong drifters' with academic expertise and successful careers. They are an important force contributing to the vigorous development of Hong Kong. I hope you will share your experiences with the new talents coming to Hong Kong and encourage them to settle down and make contributions to Hong Kong," Lee added.

"Third, attract talents to come to Hong Kong to develop their careers and lives. I look forward to the association sharing real and good stories about working and living in Hong Kong with my hometown and the world, and actively promoting Hong Kong’s unique opportunities to attract more professional talents and promote high-quality development," he said. 

Don't miss: HK establishes new office for online talent engagement platform

Most recently, Hong Kong officially established a physical office in Wan Chai for its online talent platform "Hong Kong Talent Engage" (HKTE) (人才服務辦公室), to strengthen recruitment of and support for talents to pursue development in the city. 

HKTE aims at assisting talents in their long-term development in Hong Kong and formulate targeted recruitment and publicity strategies for different talent groups.

The office will collaborate with the Dedicated Teams for Attracting Businesses and Talents (招商引才專組) under the government in carrying out external promotions of Hong Kong to attract more talents to come to Hong Kong to pursue development. 

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