The memorandum of understanding to promote talent services co-operation was signed at the second edition of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area High-quality Talent Development Conference, part of the two-day Global Talent Summit that wrapped up on Wednesday.
Highlighting the importance of synergy, Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki, Hong Kong’s No 2 official, said: “To further attract and retain talent, cities in the Greater Bay Area are signing a memorandum today to strengthen services provided to talent by the area to create a more favourable environment for them to put down roots.”
“Each of the cities in the Greater Bay Area boasts different edges and is positioned differently, there’s a wide spectrum of possibilities for collaboration.”
The bay area refers to Beijing’s ambitious initiative to transform Hong Kong, Macau and nine mainland Chinese cities into an integrated hi-tech, economic powerhouse by 2035.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han also spoke at the conference, stressing the need for Hong Kong to engage in “more innovative and bolder approaches” to tackling obstacles to talent recruitment efforts.
“The world is seeing increasing competition for talent as we face difficulties presented by an ageing population and shrinking labour force in Hong Kong,” he said.
“[We] look forward to working with cities in the bay area to promote the cluster to our target markets to attract top talent from the world to work and settle in the Greater Bay Area.”
The city’s various talent policies had garnered about 290,000 applications as of the end of April, with nearly 180,000 having been approved, he said.
Sun added that 120,000 of the approved applicants had already moved to Hong Kong, exceeding the government’s target of bringing in 35,000 candidates every year.
The minister also said the influx of talent had injected some vitality into Hong Kong’s ageing population, as many brought their families with them.
Two-thirds of incoming professionals were aged 40 and below, he noted.
Anthony Lau Chun-hon, director of Hong Kong Talent Engage, said that attendance for the two-day Hong Kong summit had exceeded expectations.
He said 3,400 people had physically attended the forum’s first day on Tuesday, while the live stream had drawn 50,000 views. More than 5,000 participants also joined the CareerConnect Expo, which was held at the same venue in Wan Chai.