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As I see it | Hong Kong must put Covid in the rear-view mirror and nurture local talent to outpace Singapore on the global stage
- Hong Kong’s main objectives for attracting global talent should be about growing the domestic economy and creating good jobs for local residents
- This week, Singapore unveiled a new five-year visa to lure global talent, consolidating its status as Asia’s pre-eminent post-Covid city
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Singapore’s unveiling this week of a new five-year visa for high-earning foreign nationals has grabbed global attention, with observers saying it is the latest indication the city state is moving quickly to consolidate its status as Asia’s pre-eminent post-Covid city.
Of course, Monday’s announcement triggered a fair amount of hand wringing in Hong Kong. The consensus view is that if this city does not move fast, our Singaporean friends – as much as they insist otherwise – will be stealing our lunch.
Hong Kong’s officials know what they need to do to stay in this global hunt for talent. The first step, as commentators in this newspaper have noted, will be to abandon the “dynamic-zero” Covid-19 policy and accept living with the virus.
Those of us who want Hong Kong to succeed hope this will happen sooner rather than later.
Beyond that, whether in Singapore or Hong Kong, one hopes that officialdom treads carefully and takes heed of local sensitivities as they seek to attract global talent.
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