Author Archives: hksar gov

Attention TV/radio announcers: Please broadcast the following as soon as possible and repeat it at regular intervals:      Here is an item of interest to swimmers.      The Leisure and Cultural Serv… read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council Secretariat (the Secretariat) today (June 1) released a Research Brief on “Nurturing of local talent”.
    
     Hong Kong is lagging behind many developed economies in nourishing local talent. Cultivating STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) literacy in primary and secondary schools, as well as building a local talent base sourced from university graduates, should help boost the supply of local talent.

     While the Government has invested a lot of resources in STEM education, the efforts to promote STEM are planned by schools themselves under the “school-oriented” approach. Some schools and teachers have inevitably encountered problems and obstacles when implementing STEM education, which include vague teaching guidelines, and teachers without enough experience, confidence and support.

     Other developed economies have made significant investment in STEM educational initiatives. In particular, the Singapore’s Ministry of Education has partnered STEM Inc in developing and implementing STEM education. STEM Inc works with teachers to co-develop STEM curriculum and co-teach STEM lessons.

     Hong Kong’s secondary students fail to have a balanced introduction to STEM education. Science subjects are optional at senior secondary level. Half of the 2019 Hong Kong Diploma of Secondary Education Examination candidates had no exposure to a science subject. Enrolment rate of Secondary Six students in advanced mathematics declined from 22.9 per cent in 2011-2012 to 14.4 per cent in 2018-2019.

     At universities in Hong Kong, STEM programmes also fail to attract students with the best academic results and places on research postgraduate programmes have been filled largely by Mainland students. Hong Kong’s talent admission schemes have met with limited success in attracting Mainland students to work and stay in the territory after graduation.

     Meanwhile, the need for continuing education after formal schooling is also important for talent to keep abreast of new knowledge and skills and avoid becoming obsolete. The Government set up the Continuing Education Fund as early as in June 2002, but the continuing education participation rates have been relatively low over the years. 

     In contrast, Singapore has been identified as a successful example of incentivizing firms and individuals to invest in continuing education through its SkillsFuture movement. Singaporeans are provided with SkillsFuture Credit to pay for approved courses, and the Singaporean government will provide periodic top-ups. Generous government subsidies are also provided for self-sponsoring and employer-sponsoring courses, and employers are entitled to Absentee Payroll funding as well.

     The subject of nurturing of local talent falls within the policy area of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Manpower.

     The Research Brief is prepared by the Secretariat’s Research Office of the Information Services Division with a view to enhancing information support for Members. It is a concise summary aiming at explaining a subject matter which may be of interest to Members and the general public.

     The Research Brief is now available on the LegCo Website at www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/1920rb03-nurturing-of-local-talent-20200601-e.pdf. read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:      The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) wishes to alert members of the public to a press release issued by Bank of Taiwan on phishing email, which has been re… read more

The following is issued on behalf of the Legislative Council Secretariat:

     The Legislative Council Secretariat (the Secretariat) today (June 1) released a Research Brief on “Global competition for talent”.
 
     The global competition for talent is intensifying.  Many developed economies have difficulties in producing enough talent to deal with a rapidly changing future increasingly driven by innovation and knowledge.  Bringing in talent from outside can provide a quick fix to the human resource gap.

     Developed economies are not only competing against each other for talent, but also with China that has become a more competitive and attractive employer after years of rapid economic development.  Many Mainland cities have implemented a variety of preferential policies and incentive schemes to attract talent.

     Hong Kong has also joined the global race for talent, but its various talent admission schemes have met with limited success which has aroused the concern over Hong Kong’s competitiveness in attracting talent.  For example, the number of applications approved under the General Employment Policy increased markedly during the last decade, but the number of expatriates decreased over the period.  Statistics on entrants under the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents and Professionals (ASMTP) obtaining right of abode during 2010-2019 also reflect negatively on their willingness to stay in Hong Kong.  It is estimated that only 12 per cent of ASMTP entrants will eventually become a permanent resident after residing in Hong Kong for seven years.  Furthermore, not many people have settled in Hong Kong through Quality Migrant Admission Scheme.  There are only a few hundred applications approved each year, below the annual quota of 1 000.

     Meanwhile, Hong Kong is striving to develop itself into a regional education hub, thereby improving access to global talent pools.  But the composition of non-local students has been dominated by Mainland students, who might not see Hong Kong as the most preferred choice of stay and the best place for career development after graduation.

     High cost of living has undermined Hong Kong’s competitiveness in terms of the salary levels offered to attract talent.  The annual salaries for Hong Kong-based senior professionals in US dollar terms are not particularly internationally attractive.  Indeed, not many of them are paid more than their counterparts on the Mainland and in Singapore after factoring in cost of living.  In addition to monetary compensation, talent also considers the quality of living when deciding where to work and stay.  However, Hong Kong did not score high in various global livability surveys.

     The subject of global competition for talent falls within the policy area of the Legislative Council (LegCo) Panel on Manpower.
 
     The Research Brief is prepared by the Secretariat’s Research Office of the Information Services Division with a view to enhancing information support for Members.  It is a concise summary aiming at explaining a subject matter which may be of interest to Members and the general public.
 
     The Research Brief is now available on the LegCo Website at www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/1920rb02-global-competition-for-talent-20200601-e.pdf. read more

     Following is the transcript of remarks by the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Dr Law Chi-kwong, and the Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Ho Kai-ming, on Mr Ho’s assumption of office this morning (June 1):

Reporter: The Government has once again appointed two new secretaries coming from the pro-government camp, Mr Ho yourself included. Do you feel your appointment has anything to do with the Government’s favouritism, as some critics have said? How would you convince the public that you are fit for this job? Secondly, as a former legislator, you have questioned the Secretary Mr Law’s policies in the Council and also had a few spats with him in the past. So, how would you describe your relationship with your current boss? Are you confident that you could work well with him? Thirdly, with unemployment reaching a new high recently, do you have any thoughts or any plans about how to bring down unemployment in the coming months? Will the Government consider rolling out a third round of relief measures for the city’s workers?

Secretary for Labour and Welfare: I would reply the last question. You leave it to me.

Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare: When we are in different positions, we would have different points of view to certain people or certain policies, but in the new position in the Government, I will try my best to learn from the Secretary to make good policies. I will bring the concerns of the trade unions and employees to the Government to deepen the discussion for policies.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare: Leave it to me for the last one. We have not excluded the possibility to have the third round of the Anti-epidemic Fund (AEF). However, at this particular juncture, the most important part is to carry out the proposals that we have made earlier to the Legislative Council Finance Committee, that is AEF 2.0. In particular, the Employment Support Scheme (ESS) has just been rolled out. We will wait and see the effects and its impact on the economy and also on the labour market, and then decide on what the second tranche of the ESS would be, so it’s too early to say whether there will be a third round. Definitely, we hope that the epidemic will die down soon and the economy will soon pick up, and there will be hopefully no need for the third round.

(Please also refer to the Chinese portion of the transcript.)