Hong Kong reveals plans to expand top talent visa scheme as lawmakers suggest tightening criteria
Launched in 2022, Hong Kong’s Top Talent Pass Scheme aims to “attract top talents with rich work experience and good academic qualifications from all over the world”.
A general view of the Hong Kong skyline from the Kowloon district of Hong Kong on Feb 2, 2023. (Photo: AFP/Isaac Lawrence)
SINGAPORE: In a bid to bolster its shrinking workforce amid an ageing population, Hong Kong has announced plans to add more universities to its elite talent visa scheme, a move which some lawmakers say should include age limits and targeting sectors to solve ongoing manpower issues.
Like many places in Asia, Hong Kong has been looking to attract more global talent as it recovers from an ongoing exodus induced by political upheaval and the pandemic, and launched the Top Talent Pass Scheme (TTPS) in 2022.
Speaking on the sidelines of an event in Hangzhou this week, Hong Kong Chief Secretary Eric Chan Kwok-ki said the government wanted to revise the TTPS scheme to include some “very famous and good schools” – including several institutions from mainland China, that are not currently part of the current top 100 universities list, the South China Morning Post reported.
This could include schools like Beijing’s Renmin University of China, which one Hong Kong lawmaker had suggested.
“The more talent we have, the more useful they will be to Hong Kong,” Mr Chan said, adding that the quality of applicants would not be affected.
Hong Kong was “opening the door” to applicants from mainland China, Mr Chan said.
“We share the same culture and language, so coming to Hong Kong is the best and easiest for them to adapt,” he told the state media China News Service agency.
According to figures provided by Hong Kong immigration authorities, more than 20,200 applications were approved under the TTPS in the earlier half of this year.
Nearly 50,000 applications were approved last year.
Under the scheme, graduates from the top 100 universities with at least three years of recent work experience are eligible to apply for the scheme.
An overwhelming majority of applicants were from China, Hong Kong immigration authorities said – a trend which has raised concerns from observers and lawmakers about the impact on Hong Kong’s status as a diverse and international financial hub.
Among them was lawmaker Wendy Hong Wen, who suggested that age restrictions could be included as part of the scheme’s criteria.
While the number of older applicants over the age of 60 was not “extremely high”, the priority should be to bring in younger and higher-skilled talent who could contribute to Hong Kong in the long-term, Ms Hong said.
She also highlighted that applications received so far were “rather concentrated” in the finance field and suggested more targeted restrictions based on other specific professional fields and industries.
Adding to this was lawmaker Jesse Shang Hailong, who said the TTPS scheme lacked applicants in other fields like energy and the automotive business.
“For example, the Science Park has told me that they constantly have more than a thousand vacancies, so they have to look to the mainland to fill those roles,” she said, as quoted by SCMP.
“But the mainland candidates may not meet the criteria for the scheme either.”
