bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

sponsorType

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Eddie Lee

The Hong Kong government should encourage international industrial talent with research and development expertise to move to the city through its migrant admission scheme, a trade association said yesterday.
Daniel Cheng Man-chung, chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries, said the industry needed to be jump-started. "Hong Kong has remained stagnant for more than 10 years, with many people being too involved in political issues," he said.
The association urged the government to foster interaction among local and international research and development institutions and well-known enterprises to promote cooperation in research.
"We hope more institutions and research units will come to Hong Kong to help us speed up our research and development," said Cheng.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology's plan to set up an innovation centre in Hong Kong proved the city has the right environment, he said.
"The manufacturing process is different today," Cheng said. "Our facilities and our manpower have to be upgraded."
To attract industry talent from around the world, Hong Kong should facilitate work visa applications, the association said.
It also urged authorities to allow more tax rebates as incentives to invest in industrial equipment.
"Rebates are practical … The measure is also able to attract foreign investors," said Cheng.
The lack of a long-term industrial policy and government support had discouraged manufacturers from moving their operations back to the city, the association said.
Cheng said increasing labour costs and manpower shortages continued to weigh on factories in the Pearl River Delta, one of the key manufacturing bases on the mainland which used to attract a lot of investors from Hong Kong.
The volatile global market and dwindling foreign demands had driven many small manufacturers out of business, he added, referring to a recent report commissioned by the association.
According to its findings, since the financial crisis in 2008, the number of Hong Kong-funded enterprises operating in the Pearl River Delta region has fallen 40 per cent, from its peak in 2007, to around 32,000 in 2013.


'Hong Kong has been stagnant for 10 years' says trade association, calling for measures to attract more talent

Increasing labour costs and manpower shortages continued to weigh on factories in the Pearl River Delta, Daniel Cheng, chairman of the Federation of Hong Kong Industries. Photo: David Wong

News