Hong Kong immigration scheme to fast track tech workers based on ‘rough estimation’
Innovation and technology insiders question whether government programme that appears to lack formal research will be an effective way to boost the sector
Questions have been raised about the effectiveness of a fast-track immigration scheme designed to draw outside talent to work in Hong Kong’s hi-tech sector after the Post learned its goal of recruiting 1,000 workers in its first year was based largely on informal guesswork.
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The scheme is related to three other government programmes that have funnelled more than 147,000 workers from mainland China and foreign countries from 2008 to 2017.
When the Innovation and Technology Bureau announced its three-year pilot scheme on May 8, Cheuk Wing-hing, the permanent secretary for innovation and technology, said: “In the course of formulating the 1,000 quota for the scheme’s first-year operation, the Innovation and Technology Commission consulted Cyberport and the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, and calculated the existing and expected demands.”
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However, when the Post requested materials related to the consultations, the Commission for Innovation and Technology, which will oversee the implementation of the scheme, said there was no formal study conducted.