In his 2022 Policy Address, Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu touched on many relevant topics, such as housing (which is always one of Hong Kong residents’ main concerns, if not the main one), reindustrialization, smart city, innovation and technology.
Just as a side note, the chief executive said on Monday that he chose green as the color for the cover of his policy address booklet as it symbolized “hope, vitality, harmony and stability”.
He also wrote on Facebook that “Hong Kong’s future is full of hope. I expect this Policy Address to bring confidence to residents”.
Therefore, after these difficult years, Chief Executive Lee’s main goal in his Policy Address seems to be to bring hope and confidence back to the residents.
One area that he has covered extensively has been that of attracting foreign talent. For several reasons, Hong Kong has lost thousands of residents since the pandemic started; therefore, if Hong Kong wants to maintain and even enhance its role as one of the major financial centers in the world, it needs to plan how to attract (or re-attract) talent and investment.
In this sense, the chief executive said the government will set aside HK$30 billion ($3.82 billion) to attract businesses to the city, and launch a top talent pass program to entice talents to pursue their careers in Hong Kong.
According to Lee, “Over the past two years, the local workforce shrank by about 140,000. Apart from actively nurturing and retaining local talents, the government will proactively trawl the world for talents.”
People who earn an annual salary of HK$2.5 million or more, and graduates from the world’s top 100 universities who have three years of work experience over the past five years, will be eligible for a two-year pass for exploring opportunities in Hong Kong.
Foreigners who enter Hong Kong under talent attraction programs, buy a residential property, and become permanent residents will be able to apply for refunds of the Buyer’s Stamp Duty and New Residential Stamp Duty for their first property, as Lee explained.
In addition to that, the government will expand the functions of mainland offices and overseas economic and trade offices.
A total of 17 offices will each set up a dedicated team for attracting businesses and talent to the city. They will reach out to target enterprises and professionals, liaise with the world’s top 100 universities, and promote related programs. They will also strengthen links with Hong Kong residents studying or working on the mainland or overseas, encouraging them to return to the city.
Also, when it comes to tech talent, the Technology Talent Admission Scheme (TechTAS) will be enhanced by lifting the requirement for tech firms to employ additional local employees while admitting talent from outside Hong Kong, with a view to speeding up talent admission.
The city’s brain drain has undoubtedly been aggravated by the stringent COVID-19 border restrictions, but all these measures should undoubtedly be very welcome. Hong Kong is in need of talent if the special administrative region does not want to be left behind; therefore, all these measures can be very useful.
However, following what I mentioned in my previous article, Hong Kong Needs to Further Reopen to the World, while the “0+3” model, implemented a few weeks ago, has proved to be very successful and has caused many more visitors to arrive in Hong Kong, I think that Hong Kong should get rid of all the remaining travel restrictions as soon as possible, just as Singapore did a while ago, and just as Japan and most Asian countries have already done.
While some travelers will be OK with the idea of “0+3” (that is, no quarantine but with a three-day monitoring period) plus doing PCR tests on days two, four and six after arrival, and a rapid antigen test every day for seven days after arrival, these measures will discourage many others from visiting Hong Kong, thus causing Hong Kong to lose potential tourists and talent, at a time when all the other financial centers are willing to take advantage of Hong Kong’s situation.
I understand that Hong Kong has to be careful when it comes to opening up, but, to me, it is time to move further so Hong Kong can not only keep its position as one of the world’s most important financial centers but enhance it. Not fully reopening will hinder its growth, now when Hong Kong has so much potential to grow due not only to its role as a major financial center but also due to its involvement in projects like the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
If all the measures explained by Chief Executive Lee are combined with the introduction of a “0+0” arrival policy, then I am sure it will become much easier for Hong Kong to attract all the talent it needs, and to do so promptly, given that Hong Kong, at the end of the day, is still and will remain a fantastic place to live and one of the world’s most important financial centers.
The author is a fintech adviser, a researcher, and a former business analyst for a Hong Kong publicly listed company.
The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.