Hong Kong to cast ‘far wider net than that of Singapore’ in talent push, aims to bring in 100,000 top professionals by 2025
- New portal launches on December 28 to accept applications from overseas talent looking to apply under talent drive scheme
- Two-year visas on the table for graduates from top 100 universities with at least three years’ working experience
Hong Kong’s ambitious scheme to lure talent and companies will begin accepting applications next week, senior officials have revealed, saying the push will cast “a far wider net than that of Singapore” in attracting the best and brightest while replenishing the ranks of a workforce drained by an emigration wave.
Authorities aimed to bring in more than 100,000 top professionals by 2025 under the aggressive immigration drive, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki told a press conference on Friday.
Combined with a yearly influx of 50,000 local university graduates into the workforce, the city’s No 2 official said he expected Hong Kong would make up for the 140,000 professionals who had quit the city over the past two years.
“We will be proactive to bring Hong Kong back to the global arena with these initiatives. We are confident that we can attract at least 35,000 talented professionals every year for the next three years,” he said.
From December 28, the Labour and Welfare Bureau’s Talents Service Unit would begin processing applications submitted to its new online platform from overseas professionals hoping to take advantage of the scheme, Chan said.